Insulin is the hormone responsible for glucose metabolism. When muscle and fat tissue react poorly to insulin as in both pre-diabetics and those with fully developed diabetes; it's called insulin resistance.

Previous research (limited to in vitro studies) has shown that chromium supplements could enhance insulin sensitivity by improving receptor signaling.

The new study, published in the Journal of Nutrition (Vol 136, pp. 415-420), is the first to use in vivo animal models to demonstrate the mechanism.

"This animal study is significant because it suggests a more detailed mechanism of action for chromium in improving insulin sensitivity in muscle, a major insulin-sensitive tissue," said corresponding author Dr Willian Cefalu from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana.

"Obese rats treated with chromium picolinate had significantly improved glucose disposal rates and demonstrated a significant increase in insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase activity in skeletal muscle compared with obese controls," wrote the researchers.

The study has demonstrated that the chromium supplement helped muscle cell insulin-receptor sites to bind insulin. Once the insulin is bound, the cell activates "glucose transporters" to take glucose up from the blood, helping to metabolize glucose at a steady rate.

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