MIAMI, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Daily selenium supplements may suppress the progression of viral load in patients with HIV infection, a University of Miami study finds.
Barry E. Hurwitz and colleagues conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of selenium supplements in patients with HIV.
Some 262 patients took a capsule containing 200 micrograms of high-selenium yeast, and 121 took a similar capsule containing inactive yeast.
"The intervention resulted in no adverse events related to the study supplement," the authors write in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "The two groups had similar selenium levels at the beginning of the study, but after nine months of treatment, the average change in blood selenium level was greater in the treatment group."
Higher blood selenium levels predicted a decreased HIV viral load, which in turn predicted increased CD4 count -- the lower the CD4 count, the more likely a patient with HIV/AIDS is to develop secondary infections or illnesses, according to Hurwitz.
