Aysegul ERTINMAZ, Nilay DANIŞ, Hüseyin DÖNGELLİ, Nizameddin KOCA, Nazif YALÇIN, Fatih KARATAŞ, Nurhayat Ozkan SEVENCAN, Burçak KAYHAN
Journal of Basic and Clinical Health Sciences - 2026;10(3):360-367
Purpose: Gastric intestinal metaplasia (IM) is a recognized premalignant lesion in the Correa cascade and a key risk factor for gastric adenocarcinoma. Selenium, an essential trace element with antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties, has been implicated in gastric carcinogenesis, but its association with intestinal metaplasia remains incompletely understood. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study included 114 adult patients who underwent diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Gastric biopsy specimens were evaluated for intestinal metaplasia and atrophy according to the updated Sydney System. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with intestinal metaplasia. Results: Gastric intestinal metaplasia was identified in 23 patients (20.2%). Patients with and without IM were comparable in terms of age, sex, and Helicobacter pylori prevalence. Mean serum selenium levels did not differ significantly between groups; however, selenium deficiency was more frequent in patients with IM (91.3% vs. 57.1%, p=0.002). In multivariable analysis adjusted for Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric atrophy, selenium deficiency was independently associated with intestinal metaplasia (OR 5.46, 95% CI 1.11-26.89, p=0.037), whereas Helicobacter pylori infection was not significantly associated with the outcome. Conclusion: Selenium deficiency was independently associated with gastric intestinal metaplasia in this cross-sectional cohort. However, given the limited number of intestinal metaplasia cases and the modest discriminatory performance of serum selenium, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and require confirmation in larger prospective studies.
