Effect of exercise (running) on serum glucose, insulin, glucagon, and chromium excretion.

Chromium is involved in normal glucose metabolism. To test whether chromium is also associated with the exercise-induced increases in glucose utilization, urinary chromium excretion, serum glucose, insulin, and glucagon of nine male runners (23-46 yr) were evaluated. Blood samples were taken prior to, immediately following, and 2 h after a strenuous 6-mile run. Urine samples were also taken at these times, and total daily urine collections were made the day of the run and the following day. Mean serum glucose for all runners immediately after running was 185 +/- 19 mg/dl compared with 90 +/- 1 mg/dl (mean +/- SE) prior to running. Mean serum glucagon immediately after running was significantly elevated compared with that observed prior to or 2 h after running; serum insulin levels were not altered significantly. Mean urinary chromium concentration was increased nearly five-fold 2 h after running; similar results were obtained when chromium concentration was expressed per mg of creatinine. Total daily urinary Cr excretion was approximately two times higher the day of running compared with the following nonrun day. Daily urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, and calcium were measured to determine if exercise had a general nonspecific effect on renal function; daily urinary excretion of these was not changed by exercise. These data demonstrate that accompanying the exercise-induced changes associated with increased glucose utilization, there is a significant increase in chromium excretion.

Urinary chromium excretion of human subjects: effects of chromium supplementation and glucose loading.

The utilization of inorganic chromium by free-living human subjects was studied in 76 volunteers (male, 48; female, 28) who were supplemented with 200 micrograms of inorganic chromium as chromic chloride or a placebo tablet for 3 months in a double-blind, cross-over experiment. For all subjects, initial mean +/- SEM urinary chromium (Cr) level was 0.20 +/- 0.01 (range, 0.05 to 0.58) ng/ml and did not differ by sex. Initial chromium/creatinine ratio (Cr/Ct) was 0.15 +/- 0.01 (range 0.03 to 0.36) ng Cr/mg creatinine for females and was significantly lower, 0.10 +/- 0.01 (range 0.03 to 0.36) for males. Mean urinary Cr level increased to 1.0 +/- 0.12 after 2 and to 1.13 +/- 0.08 ng/ml after 3 months' supplementation. The Cr/Ct ratio increased to 0.69 +/- 0.10 for females and to 0.50 +/- 0.04 for males after 2 months' supplementation; values were similar after 3 months. An increase in urinary Cr excretion in response to a glucose load was demonstrated for nonsupplemented normal free-living subjects but not for subjects supplemented daily with trivalent chromium. Urinary Cr excretion after a glucose challenge was not predictable and did not depend on Cr status.

Chromium supplementation of human subjects: effects on glucose, insulin, and lipid variables.

Seventy-six normal, free-living subjects were given supplements of 200 micrograms chromium (Cr) in the form of chromic chloride or a placebo in a double-blind crossover study with 3-month experimental periods. Twenty of the 76 subjects had serum glucose concentrations greater than or equal to 100 mg/dL 90 minutes after a glucose challenge (1 g glucose per kilogram of body weight). Chromium supplementation significantly decreased (P less than 0.05) the 90-minute glucose concentration of these subjects from 135 +/- 9 to 116 +/- 11 mg/dL; fasting glucose concentrations also decreased significantly. The 90-minute serum glucose levels of the 35 subjects with glucose concentrations less than the fasting serum glucose level were increased significantly by Cr supplementation, from 71 +/- 1 to 81 +/- 4 mg/dL. Fasting and 90-minute serum glucose concentrations of the remaining subjects who displayed 90-minute glucose concentrations greater than fasting levels but less than 100 mg/dL were not affected by Cr supplementation. In this study, immunoreactive serum insulin concentration, body weight, lipids, and other selected clinical variables did not change significantly during Cr supplementation. These data demonstrate that Cr supplementation decreases the serum glucose levels of subjects with 90-minute glucose concentrations greater than or equal to 100 mg/dL following a glucose challenge, increases serum glucose levels of subjects with 90-minute glucose concentrations less than fasting levels, and has no effect on the serum glucose levels of subjects with 90-minute glucose values similar to but greater than fasting levels.

A biphasic response of rats to cobalt.

The study was designed to confirm a previous, unexpected observation of a strong growth depressing effect of 1 microgram cobalt/g in rats fed lactalbumin based diets. The addition of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 microgram of cobalt/g to the basal diet containing 0.056 microgram/g depressed growth rates of rats progressively with increasing doses. This depression was overcome by increasing the cobalt supplement to 2 microgram/g, and additional weight gain was observed with 3 microgram/g. Higher concentrations were progressively toxic. Hemoglobin concentrations, hematocrits, and thyroid retention of intravenously injected sodium iodide all were lowest in rats fed the diet containing 1 microgram cobalt/g and increased with lower and higher concentrations of cobalt. The opposite was true for fasting serum glucose levels, which were elevated in rats fed the 1 microgram/g diet and low in rats fed the 3 microgram/g diet or control diet. This biphasic response to cobalt is consistent with the hypothesis that cobalt in low concentrations may have an essential function in the rat. However, an alternative explanation, an interaction of cobalt with a toxic constituent of the diet, has not yet been ruled out.