The role of selenium in the pathogenesis and therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases

In recent decades, Russia, as well as around the world, has recorded a steady increase in the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases, which include ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases in Russia accounts for 4.1 per 100 thousand of the population for ulcerative colitis and 0.8 per 100 thousand – for Crohn’s disease. The prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases in Russia is 19.3–29.8 cases per 100 thousand of the population for ulcerative colitis and 3.0–4.5 per 100 thousand – for Crohn’s disease. In recent years, selenium has attracted the attention of researchers due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well as its ability to influence the intestinal flora. There is evidence that inflammatory bowel diseases has deficiency of trace elements, which is more often detected during active period of the disease than during remission. The purpose of the review is to summarize and analyze current literature data on the relationship between selenium and inflammatory bowel diseases, with special emphasis on the mechanism and function of selenium in intestinal inflammation as well as to discuss the possible therapeutic use of selenium in inflammatory bowel diseases. The authors conducted a search for publications in the electronic databases PubMed and eLibrary. After the selection procedure, 87 studies were included in the review. Due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, the concentration of selenium can be crucial in the occurrence and development of inflammatory bowel diseases. Dietary recommendations with the inclusion of selenium gradually improve the quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. The development and use of selenium drugs have also provided new therapy strategies. In the future, a large number of experimental and clinical studies are still needed to confirm the relationship between selenium and inflammatory bowel diseases, which, in turn, will mark a new turn in the prevention and treatment of these severe chronic diseases.