Background: There is limited and conflicting evidence on the association between selenium and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the present population-based cross-sectional study was aimed to explore the relationship between dietary selenium intake and the risk of suspected NAFLD.

Methods: A total of 3373 subjects from the PERSIAN (Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in IrAN) Kavar cohort study were included in the analysis. The daily selenium intakes were evaluated using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and energy-adjusted quintiles of selenium intake (μg/day) were calculated. NAFLD was suspected using a cutoff value for fatty liver index (FLI) and hepatic steatosis index (HSI) markers.

Main findings: The prevalence of suspected NAFLD was 57.5% and 82.8% based on the FLI and HSI markers, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio of NAFLD was elevated significantly with increasing selenium intakes after adjustment for sociodemographic variables, smoking status, dietary factors, and physical activity (p for trend<0.001). Nonetheless, the association was not significant anymore after adjusting for metabolic-related variables, including body mass index, serum triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and blood pressure.

Conclusion: In this large sample study, we observe no significant association between dietary selenium intake and risk of suspected NAFLD.