THE ROLE OF CHROMIUM DEFICIENCY IN INSULIN RESISTANCE

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Chromium deficiency causes severe insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Average dietary chromium intake in the U.S. and other developed countries is marginal and may contribute to the high frequency of diabetes plaguing developed countries. The major clinical chromium evaluation problem is the assessment of chromium status. Determination of chromium status has been difficult because of its extremely low biological levels and the previous failure by others to identify a reliable body fluid or tissue to assess chromium status. In Phase I, skin was postulated as a potentially relevant tissue to assess chromium status. Resonance ionization spectroscopy was used to demonstrate femtogram sensitivities for chromium and to determine reliably chromium concentrations in skin biopsies. In a pilot study the skin of psoriatic, insulin resistant patients compared to controls was found to be chromium deficient. In Phase II a larger population of psoriatic chromium-deficient and obese chromium- sufficient patients will be studied to confirm that chromium diet supplementation will markedly improve the insulin resistance of the chromium deficient group. This study is expected to lay a solid foundation to approach the problem of chromium in diabetes generally, and to initiate the basis for commercial diagnostic assessments of diabetes whose medical situation is complicated by a chromium deficiency.