Relationship between dietary intake and serum level of chromium with serum glucose, lipid profile and HbA1c in patients with type II diabetes

Studies indicate that there might be relations between the level of chromium in body and risk factors of diabetes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between the food intake and serum level of chromium with the lipid profile, HbA1c, and glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. The subjects under investigation consist of 30 patients (15 females, 15 males) aged 30-60, with type 2 diabetes and a control group of 30 non-diabetic people (15 female, 15 males).They were matched for age, gender and BMI. From each participant, a 3-day 24-hour food recall was filled. Moreover, blood sample was taken to measure blood levels of sugar, HbA1c, lipid profile and chromium. The mean of serum chromium in diabetic group was 0.80 ± 0.28 μgr/dl and 1.19 ± 0.33 μgr/dl in control group, hence significantly lower in diabetic group(P < 0.001). Dietary intake of chromium was not significantly different between the two groups. The correlation test indicated that there was no significant association between serum level of chromium and its dietary intake with fasting blood sugar (P = 0.706), HbA1c (P = 0.927), serum level of TG (P = 0.663), total cholesterol (P = 0.707), HDL-C (P = 0.209) and LDL-C (P = 0.365). There was significant difference in the serum level of chromium between the diabetic group and control group although there existed no difference between dietary chromium intake of them. This is probably due to the increase of urinary excretion of this element in the diabetics.