ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging
Sec. Healthy Longevity
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2025.1473371
This article is part of the Research TopicNutritional Strategies Towards Healthy Aging and LongevityView all 4 articles
Selenium intake is associated with gait speed in very old adults
Provisionally accepted
Camila Rocha*
Gilberto HenriquesKarine VasconcelosLucca Machado
Maria Aparecida BicalhoRodrigo Santos
Ann Jansen- Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Selenium seems to have protective effect on muscle function, contribute to healthy aging and longevity, however, in older adults this relationship has not been well studied. Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of selenium in very old adults and its relationship with muscle strength, muscle mass and physical performance. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study investigating functionally independent individuals aged ≥ 80 years was conducted. Appendicular skeletal mass was determined by electrical bioimpedance, and physical performance and hand-grip strength were evaluated. Selenium intake and status in plasma and erythrocytes were evaluated. For statistical analysis. Poisson multivariate analysis was performed, and prevalence ratio used as a measure of effect. Results: A total of 72 older adults with a median age of 84 years were evaluated. Median Selenium intake was 71.58 mcg, and adequacy 73.5% overall, with a higher rate among men. In the total sample, 87.5% had optimal selenium plasma concentrations and no participants were deficient. All participants had adequate erythrocyte selenium levels. Gait speed was associated and correlated with selenium intake, even in the adjusted model. The prevalence of low adequacy on the gait test was reduced by 3-5% for every 1 mg increase in selenium consumption (PR 0.95; 95% CI: 0.93, 0.98). Conclusion: The gait speed results reinforce the hypothesis of an antioxidant role of selenium in muscle function. The very old adults studied demonstrated that homeostatic mechanisms control circulating selenium levels, highlighting the need for a specific reference value for the oldest-old population, besides the importance of analyzing blood markers associated with food intake and dietary patterns, since supplementation may prove iatrogenic.
Keywords: Longevity, healthy aging, Selenium, biomarkers, Minerals, physical performance, gait speed, skeletal muscle
Received: 06 Aug 2024; Accepted: 18 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rocha, Henriques, Vasconcelos, Machado, Bicalho, Santos and Jansen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Camila Rocha, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.