Chromium 500microgram capsules
Chromium is a transition element with the chemical symbol Cr and atomic number 24 that belongs to Group 6 of the periodic table.
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Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Chromium
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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1 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Chromium
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(5)
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Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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Supply & product information
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Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
15 to 41 hours
Mechanism
Chromium is an essential nutrient involved in the metabolism of glucose, insulin and blood lipids.
Food interactions
2 warnings
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
0.5%
Half-life
15 to 41 hours
[L1982]
Protein binding
95%
[L1983]…
Volume of distribution
[L1990]…
Metabolism
Elimination
80%
[L1982]…
Clearance
3 to 50 μg/d
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
According to the National Institute of Health, the daily dietary reference intake (DRI) of chromium for adult male and non-pregnant female are 35 μg and 25 μg, respectively [L1986]. Chromium picolinate capsules may be used as nutritional adjuvant in patients with or at risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to improve blood sugar metabolism and stabilize the levels of serum cholesterol. Chromium chloride is available as an intravenous injection for use as a supplement to intravenous solutions given for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) [FDA Label].
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 718 interactions
[L1982]
Oral LD50 for Cr (III) in rat is >2000 mg/kg .
[L1982]
LD50 of chromium (III) oxide in rats is reported to be > 5g/kg .
[L1983]
Other LD50 values reported for rats include: 3.5 g/kg (CI 3.19-3.79 g/kg) for chromium sulphate; 11.3 g/kg for chromium (III) acetate; 3.3 g/kg for chromium nitrate; and 1.5 g/kg for chromium nitrate nonahydrate .
[L1983]
Acute overdose of chromium is rare and seriously detrimental effects of hexavalent chromium are primarily the result of chronic low-level exposure .
[L1982]
In case of overdose with minimal toxicity following acute ingestion, treatment should be symptomatic and supportive .
[L1982]
There is no known antidote for chromium toxicity.
Hexavalent chromium is a Class A carcinogen by the inhalation route of exposure and Class D by the oral route .
[L1982]
The oral lethal dose in humans has been estimated to be 1-3 g of Cr (VI); oral toxicity most likely involves gastrointestinal bleeding rather than systemic toxicity .
[L1982]
Chronic exposure may cause damage to the following organs: kidneys, lungs, liver, upper respiratory tract MSDS. Soluble chromium VI compounds are human carcinogens. Hexavalent chromium compounds were mutagenic in bacteria assays and caused chromosome aberrations in mammalian cells.
There have been associations of increased frequencies of chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes from chromate production workers .
[L1981]
In human cells in vitro, Cr (VI) caused chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and oxidative DNA damage .
[L1982]
Under insulin-resistant conditions, chromium also promotes GLUT-4 transporter translocation that is independent of activity of IR, IRS-1, PI3-kinase, or Akt; chromium mediates cholesterol efflux from the membranes via increasing fluidity of the membrane by decreasing the membrane cholesterol and upregulation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein [A32353]. As a result, intracellular GLUT-4 transporters are stimulated to translocate from intracellular to the plasma membrane, leading to enhanced glucose uptake in muscle cells [L1990]. Chromium attenuates the activity of PTP-1B in vitro, which is a negative regulator of insulin signaling. It also alleviates ER stress that is observed to be elevated the suppression of insulin signaling. ER stress is thought to activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which subsequently induces serine phosphorylation of IRS and aberration of insulin signalling [A32353]. Transient upregulation of AMPK by chromium also leads to increased glucose uptake [A32353].
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L1982]
Absorption of chromium from the intestinal tract is low, ranging from less than 0.4% to 2.5% of the amount consumed .
[L1986]
Vitamin C and the vitamin B niacin is reported to enhance chromium absorption .
[L1986]
Most hexavalent Cr (VI) undergoes partial intragastric reduction to Cr (III) upon absorption, which is an action mainly mediated by sulfhydryl groups of amino acids .
[L1982]
Cr (VI) readily penetrates cell membranes and chromium can be found in both erythrocytes and plasma after gastrointestinal absorption of Cr (IV). In comparison, the presence of chromium is limited to the plasma as Cr (III) displays poor cell membrane penetration .
[L1982]
Once transported through the cell membrane, Cr (VI) is rapidly reduced to Cr (III), which subsequently binds to macromolecules or conjugate with proteins.
Cr (III) may be bound to transferrin or other plasma proteins, or as complexes, such as glucose tolerance factor (GTF).
[L1982]
[L1983]
Serum chromium is bound to transferrin in the beta globulin fraction [FDA Label].
[L1990]
Circulating Cr (III) following oral or parenteral administration of different compounds can be taken up by tissues and accumulates in the liver, kidney, spleen, soft tissue, and bone .
[L1986]
[L1983]
The metabolites bind to cellular constituents .
[L1982]
[L1982]
Chromium is excreted primarily in the urine by glomerular filtration or bound to a low molecular-weight organic transporter .
[L1990]
[L1990]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Chromium
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
2001
ChemSpider
22412
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2570
GenAtlas
CYB5A
GeneCards
CYB5A
GenBank Gene Database
M22865
GenBank Protein Database
181227
UniProt Accession
CYB5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11740
GenAtlas
TF
GeneCards
TF
GenBank Gene Database
M12530
GenBank Protein Database
339453
UniProt Accession
TRFE_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
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