Iodine and selenium deficiency associated with cretinism in northern Zaire.

Selenium status was determined in an en- demic-goiter area and in a control area ofZaire. Compared with the reference values of a noniodine-deficient area, serum sele- nium in subjects living in the core ofthe northern Zaire endemic- goiter belt (Karawa villages) was seven times lower in 52 school- children and similarly low in 23 cretins; erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (RBC-GPX) was five times lower in schoolchildren and still two times lower in cretins (P = 0.004). In a less severely iodine-deficient city of the same endemia (Businga), selenium status was moderately altered. RBC-GPX activity was linearly associated with serum selenium concentration up to a value of 1 140 nmol/L and leveled offat '� 15 U/g Hb at greater selenium concentration. At Karawa villages, selenium supplementation normalized both the serum selenium and the RBC-GPX. This combined iodine and selenium deficiency could be associated with the elevated frequency ofendemic myxedematous cretinism in Central Africa. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;52:l087-93.