Recent advances in the clinical and biochemical manifestation of chromium deficiency in human and animal nutrition

✍ Scribed by Richard A. Anderson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 118 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0896-548X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-670x(1998)11:2/3<241::aid-jtra14>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

Several recent studies demonstrate that dietary Cr intake in humans and farm animals may be suboptimal. Recent advances in Cr nutrition include the following: 1) Triglycerides of subjects with noninsulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM) decreased following daily supplementation of 200 g of Cr. Glucose and cholesterol values were not affected. 2) HDL cholesterol of subjects taking beta-blockers for the control of hypertension improved following supplementation with 600 g of Cr per day. 3) Chromium prevented sucroseinduced hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats but did not alter genetic hypertension. 4) The pig was shown to be a good experimental model for human Cr nutrition studies. Supplemental Cr (300 g/Kg diet) improved glucose, insulin, HDL, and related parameters in pigs, similar to effects reported previously for humans. 5) Lean body mass increased and percent fat decreased in pigs receiving supplemental Cr, supporting earlier human studies suggesting that Cr effects body composition. 6) Litter size of pigs increased from the lowest 10th percentile to the highest 10th percentile following Cr supplementation. 7) Immune function improved in Cr-supplemented cattle. Improvements in immune function were only present in the stressed animals. These recent advances document the nutritional role of Cr and demonstrate that the normal nutritional status of humans and farm animals may be suboptimal.