How Selenium
Supplementation Might Help AIDS in Africa
The essential trace
mineral, selenium, is of fundamental importance to human health.
As a constituent of selenoproteins, selenium has structural and
enzymic roles, in the latter context being best-known as an antioxidant
and catalyst for the production of active thyroid hormone.
Selenium is needed
for the proper functioning of the immune system, and appears to
be a key nutrient in counteracting the development of virulence
and inhibiting HIV progression to AIDS.
It is required for
sperm motility and may reduce the risk of miscarriage. Deficiency
has been linked to adverse mood states. Conditions involving oxidative
stress and inflammation have shown benefits of a higher selenium
status.
An elevated selenium
intake may be associated with reduced cancer risk.
Large clinical trials
are now planned to confirm or refute this hypothesis. In the context
of these health effects, low or diminishing selenium status in
some parts of the world, notably in some European countries, is
giving cause for concern.
Lancet July
15, 2000 356(9225):233-41
Journal Royal Society Medicine January 2002 (1):57
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COMMENT By
JOSEPH G. HATTERSLY
HIV-fighters worry
about resistance to AIDS drugs. 1 Meanwhile, ten studies showed
declining levels of the micronutrient selenium (Se) in blood plasma
or serum of persons with HIV or AIDS. 2, 3 In one such study of
125 HIV-1-seropositive drug-using men and women, the lower the
serum selenium, the sooner they died. 4
Will Taylor, PhD (University
of Georgia), explains. Given adequate oral Se, the HIV retrovirus
produces selenoproteins. These act as brakes on HIV’s reproduction:
a private "birth-control pill." Unable to reproduce,
the virus could become harmless. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14
The HIV-1 rate, as
high as 36 percent in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, is only 1.77
percent in Senegal. 15 Harold Foster, PhD
(University of Victoria), proposes why Se deficiency causes AIDS
[16] and explains. Senegal’s environment is ideal
for operation of the human immune system.
Its food chain provides
a constant ample supply of calcium, magnesium,
[17] and selenium -- which is highly protective against
cancer [18] as well as HIV-1. Senegal "is
a desiccated Cretaceous and early Eocene sea. Calcium phosphate
derived from selenium-rich phosphorites is mined for fertilizer."
[19] Senegal’s education campaign
[20, 21] provides the illusion of protection,
but similar programs fail where soils are Se-deficient, like Botswana
[22, 23] and Uganda. 24
Coconut oil, [25,
26] vitamins B12 and E-complex, [27]
N-acetyl-cysteine, [28] and vitamin B6
[29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34] also strengthen
defense against AIDS. These nutrients and 200-250 micrograms daily
of chelated selenium might work much better than expensive (but
profitable) one-dimensional AIDS drugs with their resistance and
side effects.
These nutrients might
also improve the immune systems of typical Africans, wracked by
multiple other infections. [35, 36] And
there can be no doubt that the same approach would probably benefit
patients with HIV or AIDS in America and anywhere else.
References:
1. Haney
DQ. Drug-resistant HIV infects half of Americans treated. Seattle
Post-Intelligencer 2001; Dec 19:A4.
2. Dworkin
BM. Selenium deficiency in HIV infection and the Acquired Immunodeficiency
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3. Gladyshev
VN, Stadtman TC, Hatfield DL, Jeang KT. Levels of major selenoproteins
in T cells decrease during HIV infection and low molecular mass
selenium compounds increase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999;96;3:835-839.
4. Campa
A, Shor-Posner G, Indacochea F, Zhang G, Lai H, Asthane D, Scott
GB, Baum MK. Mortality risk in selenium-deficient HIV-positive
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20; 5: 508-513.
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EW, Bhat A, et al. HIV-1 encodes a sequence overlapping env gp41
with highly significant similarity to selenium-dependent glutathione
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6. Dworkin
BM. Selenium deficiency in HIV infection and the acquired immunodeficiency
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7. Gaby AM,
Wright JM. Interview on Bland JS, Funct Med Update 1997; Apr.
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W. Selenium and viral diseases: Facts and hypotheses. Computational
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Trace Elem Res. Symposium Volume.Schrauzer G, Montagnier L, eds.
In press.
14. Wright
JV, Gaby AM. Interview on Bland JS, Funct Med Update 1997; Apr.
15. Harvard
AIDS Institute web page http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hai/interactive/map-africa.html.
16. Foster
HD. AIDS and the "selenium-CD4 T cell tailspin." The
geography of a pandemic. Townsend Ltr Doctors/Patients2000; Dec:
94-99.
17. Wright
JV. Dr. Jonathan V. Wright’s Nutrition & Healing 2001
(June); 8;6: 5-8.
18. Howe
MG. International variations in cancer incidence and mortality
in Global Geocancerology: A World Geography of Human Cancers (Ed.
Howe G.M.). NY: Churchill Livingston, 1986: 3-42.
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HD. AIDS and the "selenium-CD4 T celltailspin." Op.
cit.
20. Simmonds
A. Senegal puts the lid on Aids and now has the best results in
Africa. Johannesburg Independent 2001; Mar 18 (From LosAngeles
Times).
21. Alexandra
Zavis, Seattle Post-Intelligencer;2001; Aug 12.
22. Personal
communications, April 20, 2001.
23. AIDS
in Botswana: A new approach. Economist 2001; Aug 11: 36-37.
24. AIDS:
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LL, Johnson EA. Inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes by fatty
acids and monoglycerides. Applied and Environmental Microbiol
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OA, Ager AL, Beck MA. Vitamin E and selenium: Contrasting and
interacting nutritional determinants of host resistance to parasitic
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28. Notter
HS, Moelans II, de-Vos NM, de Graaf L, VisserMR, Verhoef J. N-acetyl-cysteine-induced
upregulation of HIV-1 gene expression in monocyte-derived macrophages
correlates with increased NF-KB DNA binding activity. J Leukocyte
Biol 1997; 61;1:33-39.
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JI, St. Pierre RL. Effects of vitamin B6 deficiency on thymic
epithelial cells and T lymphocyte differentiation. J Immunol 1978;120:1153-1159.
30. Baum
MK, Mantero-Atienza E, Shor-Posner G et al. Association of vitamin
B6 status with parameters of immune function in early HIV-1 infection.
J Acquired Immune Defic Syndr 1991;4:1122-1132.
31. Willis-Carr
JI, St. Pierre RL. Effects of vitamin B6 deficdiency on thymic
epithelial cells and T lymphocyte differentiation. Opl. cit.
32. Lake-Bakaar
G, Quadros E, Beidas S, et al. AIDS gastropathy: Gastric secretory
failure. In: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference
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33. Middleton
HM. Intestinal hydrolysis in pyridoxal 5’-phosphate in vitro
and in vivo in the rat. Effect of protein binding and pH. Gastroenterology
1986;91:343-350.
34. Mitchell
D, Wagner C, Stone WJ, Wilkinson GR, Schenker S. Abnormal regulation
of plasma pyridoxal 5’ phosphate in patients with liver
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35. Duesberg,
Peter H, PhD. Inventing the AIDS Virus. NY: Regnery, 1996.
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