In middle-aged men with HIV who are taking long-term antiretroviral drugs, taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily for six months is linked to a small increase in the proportion of CD4+ T cells,...
Mechanism
Synthesis from 1 study
Selenium helps immune cells live longer and work better by reducing internal stress and improving how they respond to threats. This lets the body maintain more healthy immune cells and fight the virus more effectively, which in turn helps restore the number of CD4+ T cells without needing to lower...
Most probable mechanism
Selenium helps immune cells stay alive longer and work better by reducing harmful stress inside them, which lets more healthy CD4+ T cells survive and respond to threats. It also helps other immune cells fight the virus more effectively without burning out, and improves how the body handles energy and fat, which supports overall immune health.
Selenium is incorporated into selenoproteins that reduce oxidative stress and restore balanced redox signaling in immune cells.
Reduced oxidative stress enhances survival of naïve and memory T cells by upregulating anti-apoptotic genes and stabilizing mitochondrial function.
Selenium increases expression of CD8A and TRAC in T cells, improving T cell receptor stability and antigen recognition capacity.
Selenium upregulates genes that enhance cytotoxic function (GZMB, GZMMH, APOBEC3G) and antiviral signaling (CCL5, IL32) in memory CD8+ T cells, improving clearance of infected cells.
Selenium downregulates exhaustion markers (CXCR4, PASK, BTG1) and premature activation signals (CD69), preserving T cell functionality and preventing functional decline.
Improved insulin signaling and reduced lipogenesis lower fat mass, reducing systemic inflammation and metabolic stress that impair immune cell function.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
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