Serum Selenium levels in Essential hypertension among adults at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

In Zambia, essential hypertension is one of the commonest and prevalent non-communicable diseases. In the current medical literature it is not clear on the serum selenium levels among essential hypertensive patients in Zambia despite evidence in literature of its role in development of hypertension.

The present study investigated serum selenium levels in essential hypertensive adults. We hypothesized that serum selenium levels were significantly lower in this population and was a risk factor for developing hypertension. An analytical cross-sectional design was applied to a total of 245 participants. Blood was collected for serum levels of Selenium, glucose, urea, creatinine and electrolytes. Student t-test was used to compare the serum selenium levels between hypertensive and normotensive participants. Significant (p<0.0001) lower levels of serum Selenium were observed in essential hypertensive adults (0.093mg/L ± 0.048) than in healthy normotensive adults (0.109mg/L ± 0.047). Regression results showed no significant relationship off Selenium levels with age (p=0.255), BMI (p-0.232), systolic blood pressure (p=0.175) and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.195). From these findings serum selenium levels may not be a risk factor for essential hypertension in this population.  Nevertheless, more studies in the same geographical area are needed to confirm this.