Chromium Deficiency in Rats: a Syndrome Simulating Diabetes Mellitus with Retarded Growth

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Abstract
Glucose metabolism was studied in rats with moderate chromium deficiency induced by a diet low (0.17 µg/g) in the metal in an environment excluding airborne contaminants. Moderately hyperglycemic levels were observed in fasting serum of 83% of adult and 46% of young rats. Glycosuria occurred in 54.6% of chromium-deficient, and in 10.3% of chromium (III)-supplemented rats (2 ppm in drinking water). Females were more susceptible than males to these disturbances of glucose metabolism. Growth was moderately enhanced in chromium-fed animals; 30% of young rats of the third and fourth generations, bred without added chromium, grew slowly. Chromium-fed animals fed a diet of Torula yeast, sucrose and lard, deficient in vitamin E and with less chromium (0.1 µg/g), had a lower mortality, weighed more, showed less glycosuria but higher levels of serum glucose than did those deficient in chromium; hepatic degeneration was partly delayed. When this diet was supplemented with α-tocopherol, the differences in serum glucose, but not in other variables, remained. These data indicate the necessity of chromium (III) for normal glucose metabolism in rats.