Figure 1: Flow chart depicting patients enrollment procedure



  Baseline T6 T12
Control Group 34.2±2.1 32.0±2.2 31.3±2.4
Selenium Group 34.4±1.9 30.2±1.8 26.1±1.8*&
Figure 2: BMI (kg/m2; M±SD): comparison between Placebo and Selenium Groups during the 12-months treatment period (*p< 0.01 vs Baseline; & p< 0.01 vs Controls; Dark Bars = Control Group, Light Bars = selenium Group)
  Baseline T6 T12
Control Group 4.5±0.8 4.4±1.0 4.0±0.6
Selenium Group 4.6±1.0 3.5±1.0 2.1±0.5*&
Figure 3: HOMA-IR (M±SD): comparison between Placebo and Selenium Groups during the 12-months treatment period ( *p < 0.01 vs Baseline; &p < 0.01 vs Controls; Dark Bars = Control Group, Light Bars = selenium Group)
  WC (cm) within-group p TF (%) within-group p VF (%) within-group p
Control Group - 10.2 <0.05 -2.2 n.s. -13.2 <0.05
Selenium Group -17.0 <0.001 -22.9 <0.001 -26.5 <0.001
Between- group p <0.05 <0.001 <0.001
Figure 4: T12 Changes from baseline (%) as for waist circumference (WC, cm), trunk fat (TF, %) and visceral fat (VF, %) in Selenium Group (Dark Bars) vs Placebo Group (Light Bars)
  Baseline T12
Control Group 6.8±2.4 6.0±1.3
Selenium Group 7.0±2.1 4.0±1.1
p n.s. <0.01
Figure 5: TSH (μU/ml; M±SD): group comparison during the 12-month treatment period (Dark Bars = Placebo Group, Light Bars = Selenium Group)

Controls Group at baseline=open circle; at end of follow-up black circle, p<0.001; Selenium Group at baseline=open triangle; open circle; at end of follow-up black triangle, p<0.05. Horizontal and vertical bars=half of SD
Figure 6: Correlation between mean values (+SD) of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and body mass index (BMI) in 100 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) and obesity

Placebo Group: at baseline = open circle; at end of follow-up = black circle, p<0.001; Selenium Group: at baseline = open triangle; at end of follow-up = black triangle, p<0.05. Horizontal and vertical bars = single SDs.
Figure 7: Correlation between mean values (±SD) of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and HOMA-IR index in 100 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) and obesity
  Control Group Selenium Group
Subjects (n) 50 50
Male (n) 12 13
Age (year) 58±9 57±8
BMI (kg/m2) 34±2 34±4
Smoking habits (n.) 3 5
Systolic BP (mm Hg, M+DS) 136±15 137±13
Diastolic BP (mm Hg, M+DS) 82±9 83±9
Fasting Glycemia (mg/dl) 92±10 90±12
HbA1c (%) 7+03 7+04
HOMA-IR 4.5±0,8 4.6±1.0
Creatinine (mg/dl) 0.8±0.2 0.8±0.3
AST (IU/l) 27±9 25±9
ALS (IU/l) 28±8 29±8
Υ-GT (IU/l) 18±7 20±5
Total cholesterol (mg/dl) 198±10 200±13
HDL-Cholesterol (mg/dl) 38±8 40±6
LDL-Cholesterol (mg/dl) 107±6 105±10
TSH (μU/ml) 6.8±2.4 7.0±2.1
FT4 (pmol/l) 15.1±2 14.9±1.9
FT3 (pmol/l) 4.1±1.0 4.2±0.9
Selenium (μg/L) 83±10 82±13
Waist circumference (cm) 120±7 118±9
Trunk fat level (%) 48±6 46±7
Visceral fat level (%) 24±7 24±5
24(OH)Vitamin-D mmol/l) 15±6 14±6

Table 1: General parameters of patients enrolled at baseline; data are given as n. or Mean±SD. Between the two groups no statistically significant differences were found