Chromium and vanadium effects on glucose and lipid metabolism of guinea pigs and obese and diabetic mice

Severe chromium deficiency in experimental animals may contribute to insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and elevated serum cholesterol concentration. Vanadium also has been reported to be a nutritionally important element for both chicks and rats, but its function and even its essentiality are still in question. Chromium absorption even from supplemented diets is poor, thus efforts were made to study the site of absorption of 51Cr from CrCl3. 51Cr was found to move very rapidly through the GI tract and appears to flow with dietary and secreted water. It was not absorbed from the stomach. In a study with guinea pigs, vanadate supplementation appeared to affect cholesterol fraction. Chromium supplementation lowered serum triacylglycerol concentrations at the end of an 18-week study. Since the previous study and others have indicated a role for chromium and vanadium in lipid carbohydrate metabolism, experiments were designed to compare effects of chromium and vanadium supplements on related parameters