Table 2. Total selenium, total sulfur, trimethylselenonium (TMSe), and trimethylsulfonium (TMS) in the study groups.
| TMSe producers (n = 13) | TMSe non-producers (n = 12) | P value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD (range) | Geo. mean (95% CI) | Median | Mean ± SD range | Geo. mean (95% CI) | Median | ||
| Total S (mg L-1) | 781 ± 98 (604–956) | 775 (718–837) | 776 | 853 ± 129 (599–1004) | 844 (762–936) | 876 | 0.110 |
| Total Se (μg L-1) | 30.4 ± 12.3 (20.5–65.2) | 28.7 (23.5–35.1) | 25.9 | 23.9 ± 7.3 (15.3–40.3) | 22.9 (19.0–27.6) | 23.6 | 0.113 |
| TMS (nM) | 296 ± 202 (76.0–691) | 224 (154–364) | 222 | 31.5 ± 24.7 (4.2–69.3) | 22.1 (12.1–40.4) | 22.3 | <0.001 |
| TMSe (nM)* | 55.4 ± 19.5 (24.3–93.6) | 52.1 (41.7–65.2) | 52.2 | <LOQ | <LOQ | <LOQ | - |
*TMSe was detected in “TMSe non-producers” (LOD = 0.8 nM) but always fell below the limit of quantitation (LOQ = 2.6 nM). The P values are two-tailed values calculated using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. The urinary level in each volunteer was calculated as the mean for the donated 5 morning urine samples.