| Summary: | Twenty-one women, lifelong residents of Xichang County, Sichuan
Province, China, an area of very low soil selenium (Se), received tablets
containing either 100 μg Se daily as Se-enriched yeast (+Se) or no additional Se
(-Se), throughout the last trimester of pregnancy and the first three months of
lactation. Diet was analyzed using diet recalls and proximate analysis of mixed
diet samples. Milk and plasma samples were analyzed for Se content,
glutathione peroxidase activity, and fatty acid profile and plasma alone was
analyzed for vitamin E content and lipid peroxidation. At parturition and three
months after delivery, milk and plasma Se levels and plasma GPx activities were
significantly higher in the +Se women than the -Se women. Milk GPx activity did
not change significantly with supplementation. Plasma vitamin E was not
different between the treatment groups at either time. Plasma lipid peroxidation
levels (TBARS) were significantly higher in the supplemented women at both
time points. Fatty acid profiles at delivery and three months after delivery were similar in both plasma and milk between the two groups. The data suggest that
this level and length of supplementation, when given to pregnant women of very
low Se status, are not adequate to influence the fatty acids in milk. === Graduation date: 2000
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