Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19
Selenium is a trace element essential to human health largely because of its incorporation into selenoproteins that have a wide range of protective functions. Selenium has an ongoing history of reducing the incidence and severity of various viral infections; for example, a German study found seleniu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-10-01
|
| Series: | Redox Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213231720309204 |
| _version_ | 1819275318924410880 |
|---|---|
| author | Jinsong Zhang Ramy Saad Ethan Will Taylor Margaret P. Rayman |
| author_facet | Jinsong Zhang Ramy Saad Ethan Will Taylor Margaret P. Rayman |
| author_sort | Jinsong Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Selenium is a trace element essential to human health largely because of its incorporation into selenoproteins that have a wide range of protective functions. Selenium has an ongoing history of reducing the incidence and severity of various viral infections; for example, a German study found selenium status to be significantly higher in serum samples from surviving than non-surviving COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, a significant, positive, linear association was found between the cure rate of Chinese patients with COVID-19 and regional selenium status. Moreover, the cure rate continued to rise beyond the selenium intake required to optimise selenoproteins, suggesting that selenoproteins are probably not the whole story. Nonetheless, the significantly reduced expression of a number of selenoproteins, including those involved in controlling ER stress, along with increased expression of IL-6 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells in culture suggests a potential link between reduced selenoprotein expression and COVID-19-associated inflammation. In this comprehensive review, we describe the history of selenium in viral infections and then go on to assess the potential benefits of adequate and even supra-nutritional selenium status. We discuss the indispensable function of the selenoproteins in coordinating a successful immune response and follow by reviewing cytokine excess, a key mediator of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19, and its relationship to selenium status. We comment on the fact that the synthetic redox-active selenium compound, ebselen, has been found experimentally to be a strong inhibitor of the main SARS-CoV-2 protease that enables viral maturation within the host. That finding suggests that redox-active selenium species formed at high selenium intake might hypothetically inhibit SARS-CoV-2 proteases. We consider the tactics that SARS-CoV-2 could employ to evade an adequate host response by interfering with the human selenoprotein system. Recognition of the myriad mechanisms by which selenium might potentially benefit COVID-19 patients provides a rationale for randomised, controlled trials of selenium supplementation in SARS-CoV-2 infection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T23:22:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9155720a13d541f7a683f2c9328777be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-2317 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T23:22:26Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Redox Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9155720a13d541f7a683f2c9328777be2022-12-21T17:26:18ZengElsevierRedox Biology2213-23172020-10-0137101715Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19Jinsong Zhang0Ramy Saad1Ethan Will Taylor2Margaret P. Rayman3Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea & Food Science, Anhui Agricultural University, 130 West Changjiang Road, Hefei, 230036, Anhui, PR ChinaDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK; Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, BN2 5BE, UKDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USADepartment of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK; Corresponding author.Selenium is a trace element essential to human health largely because of its incorporation into selenoproteins that have a wide range of protective functions. Selenium has an ongoing history of reducing the incidence and severity of various viral infections; for example, a German study found selenium status to be significantly higher in serum samples from surviving than non-surviving COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, a significant, positive, linear association was found between the cure rate of Chinese patients with COVID-19 and regional selenium status. Moreover, the cure rate continued to rise beyond the selenium intake required to optimise selenoproteins, suggesting that selenoproteins are probably not the whole story. Nonetheless, the significantly reduced expression of a number of selenoproteins, including those involved in controlling ER stress, along with increased expression of IL-6 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells in culture suggests a potential link between reduced selenoprotein expression and COVID-19-associated inflammation. In this comprehensive review, we describe the history of selenium in viral infections and then go on to assess the potential benefits of adequate and even supra-nutritional selenium status. We discuss the indispensable function of the selenoproteins in coordinating a successful immune response and follow by reviewing cytokine excess, a key mediator of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19, and its relationship to selenium status. We comment on the fact that the synthetic redox-active selenium compound, ebselen, has been found experimentally to be a strong inhibitor of the main SARS-CoV-2 protease that enables viral maturation within the host. That finding suggests that redox-active selenium species formed at high selenium intake might hypothetically inhibit SARS-CoV-2 proteases. We consider the tactics that SARS-CoV-2 could employ to evade an adequate host response by interfering with the human selenoprotein system. Recognition of the myriad mechanisms by which selenium might potentially benefit COVID-19 patients provides a rationale for randomised, controlled trials of selenium supplementation in SARS-CoV-2 infection.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213231720309204SARS-CoV-2COVID-19SeleniumSelenoproteinsRedox-active selenium speciesEbselen |
| spellingShingle | Jinsong Zhang Ramy Saad Ethan Will Taylor Margaret P. Rayman Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 Redox Biology SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Selenium Selenoproteins Redox-active selenium species Ebselen |
| title | Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 |
| title_full | Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 |
| title_short | Selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to COVID-19 |
| title_sort | selenium and selenoproteins in viral infection with potential relevance to covid 19 |
| topic | SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Selenium Selenoproteins Redox-active selenium species Ebselen |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213231720309204 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jinsongzhang seleniumandselenoproteinsinviralinfectionwithpotentialrelevancetocovid19 AT ramysaad seleniumandselenoproteinsinviralinfectionwithpotentialrelevancetocovid19 AT ethanwilltaylor seleniumandselenoproteinsinviralinfectionwithpotentialrelevancetocovid19 AT margaretprayman seleniumandselenoproteinsinviralinfectionwithpotentialrelevancetocovid19 |