Chromium was initially suspected to be an essential dietary mineral in the late 1950s after studies in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) demonstrated a severe deficiency of chromium, resulting in impaired glucose tolerance and subsequent hyperglycemia and glycosuria. Other signs of chromium deficiency include hyperinsulinemia (common in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM)), decreased insulin receptor number, decreased insulin binding, and DM-associated neuropathies and vascular pathologies.
Because data are lacking to establish a recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for chromium, an estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intake (ESADDI) value has been established by the Food and Nutrition Board. The ESADDI for chromium, 50–200 mcg per day for adults, is believed by nutritionists to be a value that would provide adequate and safe chromium intake. On the other hand, toxicologists have been interested in determining an absolute upper safe value for oral intakes of trace minerals. The oral reference dose (RfD) for chromium has been established at 70,000 mcg/day for adults. Philosophical differences exist between the development of RDAs/ESADDIs and RfDs in that the former are conservative and address the needs of the healthy population, while the latter are meant to protect from toxicity population groups at highest risk, including infants and pregnant women.
Values of daily chromium intake from subjects with self-selected diets have been estimated at 33 ± 3 mcg for men and 25 ± 1 mcg for women, well below the established ESADDI. Some nutritionists and other healthcare providers have suggested the need for dietary supplementation because even well-balanced diets fall extremely short of providing the minimum ESADDI for chromium. In order to meet the ESADDI for chromium via the diet, some investigators have suggested that diets containing between 10,000 and 40,000 kilocalories per day would be required. Although the relative lack of chromium may have minor, if any, consequences in nondiabetic patients with normal glucose homeostasis reserves, patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are more likely to be adversely affected.
Chromium is generally found in minute amounts in foods. Canned foods, due to leaching from the can, and homogenization in a food processor equipped with a stainless steel blade can impart significant amounts of chromium to food. Brown sugar, many spices, coffee, tea, as well as some beers and wines generally have significant chromium contents, but the only food-like product that appears to contain consistently high levels of chromium is brewer’s yeast. However, there is no reliable information available on the differences between various sources of brewer’s yeast and chromium content for consumers to make informed decisions.
Only 1%–2% of the chromium delivered by the diet is absorbed in the small intestine. Like many other trace minerals, chromium interacts with various dietary components which enhance or retard its absorption. Chelation with dietary amino acids, especially L-histidine; or complexation with oxalate, abundant in many dietary vegetables and grains, or with nicotinic acid or ascorbic acid, can significantly augment the intestinal absorption of this mineral. However, chromium complexed with dietary phylate, or if given with pharmacological doses of zinc or iron in multivitamin preparations, decreases chromium absorption. Once absorbed in the intestine chromium is bound by transferrin and albumin for transport through the circulation and storage throughout the body. Excretion of chromium is largely via the kidneys. Since chromium is not actively reabsorbed in the renal tubules, the amount excreted is proportional to the amount filtered at the glomerulus. Even though diabetic patients have increased renal excretion of chromium, an observed compensatory increase in intestinal chromium absorption may help to offset the renal chromium loss.
A major challenge to understanding chromium’s role in diabetes mellitus (DM) is a lack of standard techniques to assess chromium status. Blood, urinary and hair chromium values do not provide accurate information on chromium stores in the body. Despite this limitation, supplemental chromium has been shown effective in many studies of patients with DM. However, most of these studies fail to document the chromium status of subjects prior to the therapeutic intervention.
Physiological actions: Insulin’s ability to regulate glucose levels and lipid metabolism depends on its binding to specific receptors found in many peripheral tissues, e.g., adipocytes, muscle, liver. In addition to increasing the number of insulin receptors present in a target tissue, chromium also has been demonstrated to increase the binding of insulin to its receptors. The latter action may involve chromium’s ability to regulate key reactions involving phosphorylation/dephosphorylation, which turn on and off insulin action. Insulin activates its receptor by binding to the extracellular alpha subunit. This leads to phosphorylation of the membrane-bound beta subunit. Chromium, via the enzyme insulin receptor tyrosine kinase, catalyses the phosphorylation in the presence of insulin. Additionally, chromium inhibits tyrosine phosphatase, which is responsible for terminating the insulin receptor response. Thus, by both increasing activation and inhibiting termination of insulin receptor-mediated responses, chromium can significantly influence glucose utilization by peripheral tissues.
Chromium’s action on insulin receptors may be mediated via a chromium complex, termed the “glucose tolerance factor.” While the exact identity of this factor has not been elucidated, chromium may be an essential component, in addition to some amino acids and vitamins. Most believe that insulin can function in the absence of chromium; however, its activity appears greatly enhanced in the presence of this mineral.
In addition to many in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrating chromium’s ability to improve glucose tolerance in experimental animals, most studies of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have regularly demonstrated beneficial effects of chromium supplementation on glucose tolerance, especially in patients with more pronounced intolerance. Most of the positive studies with chromium have been in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who have used at least 400 mcg of chromium, both in the picolinate and chloride forms. In one study by Mossop, fasting glucose levels were decreased from 14.4 mmol/L to 6.6 mmol/L following 16–32 weeks of chromium chloride (600 mcg/day) supplementation. Similar beneficial results have been demonstrated with lower doses (200–300 mcg/day) of the picolinate form, and even greater responses with higher doses. Anderson et al., studying type 2 DM subjects (180 men and women), utilized three groups (placebo, 200 mcg/day, and 1,000 mcg/day chromium). Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were significantly decreased after four months of treatment (8.5% ± 0.2%, 7.5% ± 0.2% and 6.6% ± 0.1%, respectively, for the three groups). Reductions in HbA1c levels are significant because they represent long-term glucose control, which is closely correlated to the prevention of complications of diabetes, such as neuropathy and vascular disease. Fasting blood glucose and total cholesterol were also decreased in the chromium-treated groups. While the highest dose of chromium used was well beyond the ESADDI value, no adverse effects were reported.
Ravina et al., recently demonstrated the effectiveness of 600 mcg chromium (as picolinate) to reverse the glucose intolerance associated with glucocorticoid administration. While steroid-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) led to an increase in blood glucose to 250 mg/dL and an increase in renal chromium loss, supplementation with chromium decreased blood glucose to 150 mg/dL and significantly improved glucose tolerance. Although this study size was small, the findings are consistent with a beneficial effect of chromium on glucose tolerance when chromium status is compromised. A study in women with gestational DM demonstrated the ability of chromium (4 and 8 mcg/kg) to significantly improve glucose tolerance, HbA1c levels, and insulin sensitivity. Double-blind, follow-up studies are needed to confirm and extend these observations.
Portuguese medicinal plants used specifically for diabetes mellitus (DM) had a chromium content approximately 3X that found in other plants from the same area that were not used for DM. Whether the amount of chromium present in these preparations accounts for the anecdotally reported benefits in DM is unknown.
Numerous case reports and small, limited studies on the effectiveness of chromium as an adjunct in the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have appeared in the literature. Many have documented the ability of this mineral to lower fasting glucose, serum lipids and HbA levels, while some also demonstrate increases in HDL cholesterol. Clearly more large, well-controlled, double-blind studies are needed to fully characterize the effectiveness of chromium in diabetes mellitus (DM). Attention should be paid to the starting chromium status of the subjects. Healthcare providers should be aware of the potential utility of this mineral, and its use should be accompanied by close monitoring for any adverse effects.
Adverse effects: No credible data to date have documented adverse effects associated with the oral intake of trivalent chromium in experimental animals or humans. Trivalent chromium administered long-term to animals at doses on a per kg basis several thousand times the upper limit of the ESADDI for humans failed to produce any discernible toxicity. However, a recent study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society in 1999 reported that chromium picolinate could enter cells in culture and induce DNA strand breakage. Critics of the study argue that the concentrations of chromium were excessive and the relevance of cells in tissue culture to the human organism is questionable, especially in light of the long history of the reported safe use of trivalent chromium in humans.
Available products: Many OTC multivitamin/mineral supplements are available for patients wishing to enhance their chromium status. Their chromium content typically ranges from 6–200 mcg, although some have higher amounts (400 mcg). Although the picolinate form often is utilized, the chloride and polynicotinate forms are also an option; all are bioavailable. Some multicomponent preparations contain large amounts of zinc or iron, which decrease the absorption of chromium. Due to chromium’s role in glucose homeostasis, one vitamin/mineral preparation specifically designed for patients with diabetes contains chromium.
Since many of these preparations are sold as dietary supplements, they are regulated by the provisions of the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994. Concerns regarding the content uniformity, bioavailability, stability, dissolution characteristics and manufacturing controls of many dietary supplements have been voiced. However, to date no published studies question or confirm the various quality assurance issues related to chromium-containing products. Patients and healthcare providers should realize that the manufacturing standards and regulations associated with chromium, and some other minerals discussed below, are very different from those associated with a prescription or OTC drug.