CHROMIUM DEFICIENCY IN INSULIN RESISTANCE

CHROMIUM DEFICIENCY CAUSES SEVERE INSULIN RESISTANCE AND GLUCOSE INTOLERANCE. AVERAGE DIETARY CHROMIUM INTAKE IN THEUNITED STATES AND OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IS MARGINAL AND MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE HIGH FREQUENCY OF DIABETES PLAGUING DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. THE MAJOR CLINICAL CHROMIUM EVALUATIONPROBLEM IS THE ASSESSMENT OF CHROMIUM STATUS. DETERMINATIONOF CHROMIUM STATUS HAS BEEN DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF ITS EXTREMELY LOW BIOLOGICAL LEVELS AND THE LACK OF 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 SENSITIVITIESFOR CHROMIUM AND TO DETERMINE CHROMIUM CONCENTRATIONS RELIABLY 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 OBSES 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 CHROMIUM STATUS IN DIABETICS. AWARDEE'S STATEMENT OF THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONSOF THE RESEARCH: PROJECT RESULTS WILL BE (1) REFINED METHODS FOR ULTRATRACE CHROMIUM DETERMINATIONS IN BIOLOGICALTISSUES AND FLUIDS, AND (2) A CLINICAL BASIS TO DETERMINE CHROMIUM STATUS AND ROLE IN INSULIN RESISTANCE AND DIABETES.COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL INCLUDES INSTRUMENTS AND SERVICES TO DETERMINE CHROMIUM STATUS.