Manzanares W, Biestro A, Torre MH, Galusso F, Facchin G, Hardy G.; Intensive Care Med. 2011 Jul;37(7):1120-7. Epub 2011 Mar 29.
Purpose: To confirm the pharmacodynamics and evaluate the efficacy of high-dose selenium (Se) administered by continuous infusion, following an initial loading bolus of selenite, on clinical outcome in critically ill patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).
Results: SOFA score decreased significantly in the selenite group at day 10 (1.3 ± 1.2 versus 4.6 ± 2.0, p = 0.0001). Early VAP rate was lower in the selenite group (6.7% versus 37.5%, p = 0.04), and hospital-acquired pneumonia was lower after ICU discharge (p = 0.03). Glutathione peroxidase-3 (GPx-3) activity increased in both groups, reaching a maximum at day 7 (0.62 ± 0.24 versus 0.28 ± 0.14 U/mL, p = 0.001) in the selenite group. No adverse events attributable to selenite were observed.
Conclusions: Daily infusion of 1,600 μg Se (as selenite), following an initial bolus of 2,000 μg, is novel and without short-term adverse events. High-dose parenteral selenite significantly increases Se status, improves illness severity, and lowers incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia including early VAP for SIRS patients in ICU.
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