Association between dietary selenium intake and severe abdominal aortic calcification in the United States: a cross-sectional study

Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is an important predictor of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the current study was to detect the association between dietary selenium intake and severe AAC. We included 2651 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2013-2014). Dietary selenium intake was measured using the 24-hour recall method. AAC was quantified using the Kauppila score system based on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, with a score of >6 indicating severe AAC. The association between dietary selenium intake and severe AAC was analyzed by using a weighted multivariate logistic regression model, smooth curve fitting, and stratified subgroup analysis. After adjusting for multiple covariates, we found that higher dietary selenium intake was negatively associated with severe AAC incidence. When selenium intake was converted into tertiles, the highest tertile of dietary selenium intake was significantly associated with the incidence of severe AAC (odds ratio = 0.66). Smooth curve fitting revealed that this relationship was nonlinear. Subgroup analysis revealed that this negative association was present in participants with chronic kidney disease, but was absent when participants had hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Higher dietary selenium intake was negatively associated with severe AAC incidence in a nonlinear pattern, except in participants with diabetes mellitus or hypertension. However, further cohort studies are required to validate these findings.