Efficacy of chromium(III) supplementation on growth, body composition, serum parameters, and tissue chromium in rats.

Chromium(III) is often claimed to have a positive effect on body composition, while the responses in researches with supplementation of different chemical form of chromium are various and inconsistent. We have studied the effects of 6 weeks of treatment with three different forms of chromium (300 mug/kg) as chromium chloride, chromium tripicolinate, and chromium nanocomposite (CrNano) on growth, body composition, serum parameters, and tissue chromium in rats. The supplementation of CrNano significantly increased average daily gain, food efficiency, and lean body mass and decreased fat mass and body fat proportion and serum levels of glucose, urea nitrogen, triglyceride, and insulin. Chromium contents in liver, kidney, and hind leg muscle were increased significantly with the addition of CrNano in diet. The results indicate that chromium nanocomposite has higher efficacy on growth and body composition compared to the traditional chromium agents.