The Efficacy of Niacin-Bound Chromium to Slow the Progression of Diabetic Nephropathy in Type II Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Animal and clinical studies suggest niacin-bound chromium (NBC) added to the diet improves glucose-insulin sensitivity, the ability to ameliorate inflammation, hypertension, and proteinuria. In addition to its lipid-lowering actions, NBC possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Rat studies demonstrated that T2DM decreases both the production and bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), and we hypothesized that NBC supplementation will preserve NO production via increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and decreased neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). NBC supplementation decreased levels of plasma creatinine in the treated diabetic rats compared to the untreated diabetic rats, and therefore preserved glomerular filtration rate (GFR). We provide evidence that this effect may also be due to increased levels of eNOS, which leads to renal microvascular vasodilation. Supplementation of NBC also lowered nNOS levels, which is a significant finding when considering the role of nNOS in T2DM. Marked improvements in fasting glucose and lower body weights were observed in the treated diabetic rats compared to the untreated diabetic rats. Therefore, these results demonstrate that NBC supplementation slows the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN) in type 2 diabetic rats.