Antidiabetic Effect of High-Chromium Yeast Against Type 2 Diabetic KK-Ay Mice.

High chromium yeast has attracted many researchers for its high efficiency and high safety among chromium supplements. The preventive effect of oral high-chromium yeast on diabetes was assessed using KK-AY mice. Sixteen-wk-old type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice were divided into five groups and orally administered with two types of drying processed high-chromium yeast, chromium picolinate at 1000 μg Cr/kg/d, metformin (positive control), and normal yeast (negative control) for 13 weeks. The spray-dried high-chromium yeast significantly delayed the onset of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice (P < 0.05) and significantly improved fasting blood glucose, TG(triglyceride), and TCHO(total cholesterol) . Histopathological analysis showed that the spray-dried high-chromium yeast led to high affinities for the stains to the β-cells in the islets of Langerhans and alleviated hepatic steatosis. High-chromium yeast could be a potential candidate for nutritional supplement to ameliorate diabetes. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Chromium plays an important role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism. The result show that spray-dried high chromium yeast significantly delayed the onset of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice. As one of chromium supplements, the purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of high chromium yeast on the type 2 diabetes and drying method on its bioactivity, which will be useful for research and development of high-chromium yeast and improvement of pharmacological activity-based quality control.