Maternal selenium status plays a crucial role on clinical outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 infection.

ABSTRACT

Adequate maternal selenium level is essential for immune response and healthy pregnancy. This study aimed to shed light on the selenium status of pregnant women with COVID-19 and the effects of potential deficiency in serum selenium levels. Totally 141 pregnant women, 71 of them were COVID-19 patients, in different trimesters were included in the study. Maternal serum selenium levels, demographic and clinical parameters were determined. Serum selenium levels of pregnant women in the second (p .0003) and third (p .001) trimesters with COVID-19 were significantly lower than in the healthy group. Maternal selenium level was found to be negatively correlated with gestational week (p < .0001, r -.541), D-dimer (p .0002, r -.363) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) level (p .02, r -.243). In the second trimester, serum selenium level positively correlated with white blood cell (p .002, r .424), neutrophil (p .006, r .39), lymphocyte (p .004, r .410) count and hemoglobin (p .02, r .323), hematocrit (p .008, r .38) status. In the third trimester, it was found that maternal selenium level positively correlated with monocyte (p .04, r .353) and negatively correlated with C-reactive protein level (p .03, r -.384). Serum selenium level was gradually decreased during the pregnancy period, however, this natural decrease was enhanced together with COVID-19 infection. The reason might be increased selenium needs depended on the immune response against infection. The decrease in maternal selenium level was found to be related to IL-6 and D-dimer levels, which indicate selenium's role in disease progression.