Association between dietary selenium intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease in US adults: a population-based study

The relationship of dietary selenium intake and CVD remains unestablished. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary selenium intake and the risk of CVD in American adults. This cross-sectional study used data of 39,372 participants from the NHANES 2003-2018. We employed multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic splines (RCS) to explore the association between dietary selenium intake and CVD risk. Subgroup analysis and interaction tests were also conducted to assess the influence of various covariates. For 39,372 individuals recruited in this study. The overall prevalence of CVD was 8.57%, and this prevalence decreased with increasing dietary selenium intake across tertiles. In the fully adjusted models, Tertile 2 of dietary selenium intake showed a 16% reduced risk of CVD. Subgroup analysis revealed that the association between dietary selenium intake and CVD risk remained consistent across different status. However, notably, the negative association between dietary selenium intake and the risk of ASCVD was significantly influenced by hypertension status. Dietary selenium intake could reduce the risk of CVD. A nonlinear association of dietary selenium intake with CVD risk was also revealed. These findings have important implications for establishing recommended dietary selenium intake levels to benefit public cardiovascular health.