According to an observational study, imbalance in Selenium homeostasis (rather than dietary selenium intake) increases the risk of liver fibrosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Researchers sought to investigate the relationship between Selenium levels in blood, advanced liver fibrosis, and NAFLD. For all the data, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database served as the source.

Depending on their blood Selenium levels, a total of 3336 participants were segregated into four groups. Using Vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE), liver stiffness and  controlled attenuation parameter were estimated. The correlation between blood Selenium levels and NAFLD and advanced liver fibrosis identified by several techniques was determined by subgroup analysis and multiple logistic regression models.

Greater blood Selenium level (>205.32, ≤453.62 μg/L) revealed a substantial positive correlation with NAFLD (β = 1.31) in multivariate logistic regression models. Additionally, advanced liver fibrosis (β = 0.61) was inversely linked with high blood Selenium levels since volunteers with reduced blood Selenium levels exhibited a higher percentage of advanced liver fibrosis. Males with high blood Selenium levels had the main inverse connection between advanced liver fibrosis and blood Selenium, according to subgroup assessment.

The relationship between advanced liver fibrosis/NAFLD and blood Selenium level remained crucial despite dietary Selenium consumption being altered or in different subgroups. Thus, this study offered a novel perspective on the pathogenesis of advanced fibrosis and NAFLD.