Subnormal concentrations of serum selenium and plasma carnitine in chronically tube-fed patients

Forty-seven tube-fed nursing home patients were investigated with regard to serum or plasma selenium (Se), carnitine, and red blood cell (RBC) glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Thirty-six patients were tube fed with Isocal®, and 11 were tube fed with Compleat B®, an L-carnitine-containing formula. Eighteen elderly nursing home patients and 10 young adults served as controls. Serum Se and plasma carnitine were lowest (p < 0.05) in the Isocal patients. In all 36 Isocal® subjects, Se was below normal, and in 26% of Isocal® patients RBC GSH-Px was also below normal. Free and total carnitine were below normal in most Isocal subjects. All 11 Compleat B® patients had subnormal serum Se, but most had normal carnitine concentrations. These data suggest that enteral formulae in nursing homes should contain > 100 μg Se and on the order of a mmol carnitine/1600 kcal.