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Study summary · NAD⁺, sirtuins & cellular energy

Does supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 affect thyroid hormonal status, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, and health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) in individuals with insufficient selenium intake?

BMC Med · 2024 · PMID 38714999 · DOI 10.1186/s12916-024-03411-1

Plain-English summary written and published by Magellan Longevity · medical review by Gabriel Radu, DO (physiatrist, NPI 1376861765). We summarize what the paper reported — we did not run this study.

The takeaway

Supplementing with selenium and coenzyme Q10 improved thyroid function and related health outcomes in an elderly population with low selenium levels.

The question

Does supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 affect thyroid hormonal status, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, and health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) in individuals with insufficient selenium intake?

What they tested

Supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 will have a beneficial effect on thyroid hormones, CV mortality, and Hr-QoL, particularly in individuals with low baseline selenium concentrations.

How they did it

This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study involving 414 individuals. Participants received either selenium yeast (200 µg/day) and coenzyme Q10 (200 mg/day) or a placebo for 48 months. Thyroid hormones (Free T3, free T4, reverse T3, TSH), CV mortality, and Hr-QoL (using SF-36) were measured at baseline and after the intervention. Statistical analyses included T-tests, repeated measures of variance, and ANCOVA.

What they found

At baseline, individuals with the lowest selenium concentration had significantly higher TSH and lower fT3. After 4 years, supplementation significantly increased fT3 and rT3, decreased fT4, and diminished the increase in TSH levels compared with placebo (p = 0.03). In the placebo group, TSH and fT4 values above the median were associated with increased 10-year CV mortality (p < 0.04) and a decline in mental Hr-QoL, which was not observed in the active intervention group.

What it means

Supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 had a beneficial effect on thyroid hormones, which was associated with improved CV mortality and Hr-QoL outcomes. The initial selenium deficiency in the elderly study population was linked to impaired thyroid function, and the observed changes in thyroid hormone levels are likely due to increased deiodinase activity.

Limitations

The study was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01443780) because registration was not mandatory when it began.

“selenium and coenzyme Q had a beneficial effect with respect to cardiovascular mortality”— from the published abstract, BMC Med 2024

The paper at a glance

Magellan’s evidence labelselenoprotein antioxidant plus CoQ10 (our label for this citation — see PubMed for the paper’s own title and authors)
JournalBMC Med
Year2024
PMID38714999 ↗
DOI10.1186/s12916-024-03411-1 ↗
TopicNAD⁺, sirtuins & cellular energy

Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗

Molecules & mechanisms in this paper

Each of these is named in the paper’s own words above. Open the monograph for the full mechanism and its other citations.

Coenzyme Q10

Cite this page

These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.

APA
Magellan Longevity. (2026). Does supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 affect thyroid hormonal status, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, and health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) in individuals with insufficient selenium intake? [Plain-English summary of BMC Med 2024, PMID 38714999, DOI 10.1186/s12916-024-03411-1]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/s134.html
BibTeX
@misc{magellan_s134, title = {Does supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 affect thyroid hormonal status, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, and health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) in individuals with insufficient selenium intake?}, author = {{Magellan Longevity}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/s134.html}}, note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 38714999; DOI 10.1186/s12916-024-03411-1; BMC Med 2024. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO}, urldate = {2026-08-11} }
Permalink
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How this summary was made. Every section above restates what the published abstract of PMID 38714999 reports — the question, the design, the numbers, the authors’ own conclusion and their stated limitations. We do not add claims the paper did not make, and we keep negative and no-effect findings in. Magellan’s evidence grades are set from research like this and never from affiliate commissions.

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Educational information, not medical advice. This is a plain-English summary of published research; it is not a treatment recommendation and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual studies can be wrong, and a single paper rarely settles a question. Talk to your physician before acting on any research, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medication.