• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.706-709
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• 2003

Chromium (Cr) plays an important role in body composition. Several human and animal studies of Cr supplementation have reported increases in lean body mass, often with concurrent decreases in body fat. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of supplemental Cr as chromium methionine (CrMet) on obesity index, body fat and serum lipids in rats. Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of nine rats. Rats received a AIN-76 semipetrified basal diet or high fat diet supplemented with 300 ppb CrCl$_3$and CrMet as well as no added dietary Cr (referred to as Control, HF, HFCr, and HFCrMet). After 6 weeks on the respective diets, animals were killed and analyzed for differences in serum lipid concentrations. Rats supplemented with CrMet had a slightly higher naso-anal length and final body weight was decreased. The lowest obesity index and body fat content were found in CrMet supplemented animals (p〈0,05). Supplemental CrMet decreased the total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol. The significant differences observed were total cholesterol concentration for CrMet supplementation. These indicate that supplemental Cr, as chromium methionine, resulted in a significant decrease of obesity index and body fat and influence serum lipid concentrations, possibly by decreasing the body fat.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.249-252
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• 2003

This study was conducted to determine the effects of chromium-methionine (CrMet) supplementation at various levels on obesity index, body fat, and serum glucose, insulin and leptin in rats. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of four dietary groups and fed AIN-76 semi-purified basal diets supplemented with 0, 300, 600 or 1200 ppb Cr from CrMet. After 4 weeks on the respective diets, the rats were killed and serum glucose, insulin and leptin concentrations were determined. The CrMet supplementation did not affect weight gain, feed intake or feed efficiency ratio, fasting glucose, insulin or leptin levels among treatment groups. Although final body weight in all treatments were not significantly different, naso-anal length was longer in the 1200 ppb CrMet group than those of control or other groups (p<0.05). The lowest obesity index and body fat were observed in the 1200 ppb dietary group (p<0.05). The obesity index of the rats fed 1200 ppb supplemental CrMet was lower than in the other groups. These results suggest that CrMet supplementation results in a significant decrease in obesity index, possibly by decreasing the body fat that corresponded to increasing CrMet dosage.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.759-768
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• 2005

The study was designed to estimate the in vitro rumen by-pass rate of both chromium methionine chelate as an organic supplement and $ClCl_3$ as an inorganic supplement. Rumen by-pass rates of the supplements were evaluted by comparing ruminal metabolites in rumen fluid and Cr and methionine contents in the body of ruminal microorganism. For in vitro digestion examination, basic nutrients for ruminal microbes were supplied with 7g(DM) of feed, 2g of rice straw, and 2g of corn silage per each incubation jar. Three treatments including Control(no supplementation of Cr), T1(1000ppb supplementation of $ClCl_3$) and T2(chromium methionine chelate supplementation equivalent to 1000ppb of Cr content) were prepared with five replications per each treatment. pH of T2 was lower than that of Control and T1 regardless of incubation time. Ammonia content was higher in T2 than in Control and T1 during first 6 hours of incubation. However, the ammonia content in Control was remained low after 6 hours. Total volatile fatty acids(VFA) content in control was increased constantly as incubation time was extended. Therefore, VFA content in T1 and T2 were significantly lower (P<0.05) than those of Control. Dry matter recovery rate by ruminal microorganism was the lowest in T1, however ruminal microbial population was increased most efficiently in T2 during 12 hours of in vitro incubation. Cr concentrations in the body of ruminal microbes were not different(P>0.05) between Control and T2, but it was significantly high in T1(P<0.05). Contents of methionine and cystine in ruminal microbes also were not different between Control and T2(P>0.05), but it was relatively low in T1. Based on the above results, the chromium methionine chelate was believed to by-pass rumen and could remain intact until it reaches small intestine compared to inorganic chromium. This results implies that chromium methionine chelate could be more effective to function in the small intestine of ruminant animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.256-260
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• 2012

The objectives of this study were to investigate the immune responses of broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with different level of chromium methionine (CrMet) in heat stress (HS) condition. Two hundred and eighty eight male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were allocated to four treatment groups (supplementation with 0, 200, 400 or 800 ppb Cr in the form of CrMet) in a completely randomized design. The experiment was conducted at heat stressed condition and all birds were kept under temperature of $33{\pm}2^{\circ}C$. Antibody titers against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (H/L), and concentration of plasma cortisol (CPC) were measured at 21 and 42 d. At 42 days of age two birds were chosen randomly from each replicate, slaughtered, spleen and bursa of Fabricius were collected, weighed and expressed as a percentage of live body weight. Antibody titers against NDV and IBV at 21 and 42 days of age in broiler fed supplemental CrMet were higher than in broiler chickens fed control diet (p<0.05). CPC level in broiler chickens fed CrMet were significantly (p<0.05) decreased. Increases in lymphocyte counts and consequently a decrease in heterophil to lymphocyte ratios in broiler chickens fed 800 ppb Cr were observed at 21 and 42 d. Supplementation with CrMet had no significant effect on lymphoid organs of broilers. The results suggest that dietary CrMet supplementation at a level of 800 ppb can improve some immune responses of broiler chickens under heat stress conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.378-383
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of chromium methionine (Cr-Met) chelate supplementation on blood metabolites and fatty acid profile of beef from Holstein steers during late fattening period. Fifteen Holstein steers were allotted randomly into two groups including the control (non Cr-Met feeding, NCM, ave. body weight [BW] = $483{\pm}25.7kg$) and the treatment (Cr-Met feeding for 4 months, 4CM, ave. $BW=486{\pm}27.5kg$) group. The feeding amount of Cr-Met to animals was limited to 400 ppb/cow/d and was supplemented to total mixed ration. No difference in blood albumin, alkaline phosphatase, urea-nitrogen, calcium, creatine, glucose, total protein, triglyceride, and cholesterol were observed between the treatment groups (p>0.05). The level of high density lipoprotein was higher in the 4CM group than the NCM group, whereas low density lipoprotein was lower in the 4CM group (p<0.05). The fatty acid composition (caprate, laurate, myristate, pentadecanoate, palmitate, palmitoleate, margarate, cis-11 heptadodecanoate, stearate, oleate, trans-vaccenate, linoleate, cis-11 eicosenoate, docosa hexaenoic acid, and docosa pentaenoic acid) of the beef showed no difference between the two groups (p>0.05). The arachidonic acid level tended to be higher in the 4CM than the NCM group (p = 0.07). Cr-Met had no influence (p>0.05) on the ratio of saturated, unsaturated, unsaturated/saturated, monounsaturated/saturated and polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids whereas the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the 4CM group was comparatively higher than the NCM group (p<0.05). This study concluded that feeding Cr-Met supplementation in 400 ppb/d to Holstein steers for 4 months during late fattening period can improve some blood metabolites and beef quality by increasing PUFA and gamma-linoleate compositions of beef.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.342-345
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• 2004

This study evaluated the effects of different forms of chromium supplements on serum glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations in rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly assigned to one of three dietary groups and fed AIN-76 semi-purified basal diets supplemented with 300 ppb Cr from Cr methionine (CrMet) and Cr chloride $(CrCI_3)$ or without Cr (control). By the end of the $4^{th}$ week, all rats were decapitated, blood collected, and serum glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations were determined. The CrMet and $CrCl_3$ supplementation did not affect weight gain and feed efficiency ratio. However, feed intake was significantly higher in CrMet groups than control (p < 0.05). CrMet-supplemented rats had markedly increased insulin levels (p < 0.05) compared with controls. Serum lipids were not significantly different between the control and the CrMet groups. $CrCl_3$ supplementation decreased total cholesterol and triglyceride, but the decreases were only significant for the control group. $CrCl_3$ supplementation was associated with significant decreases in total cholesterol compared with CrMet supplementation. These results indicate that CrMet supplementation is effective for increasing serum insulin, and $CrCl_32$ may improve lipid concentrations, because we observed decreased serum total cholesterol and an improved total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio (THR).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1021-1029
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• 2013

To investigate the effect of dietary chromium (Cr) as Cr methionine (CrMet) on growth performance, carcass traits, pork quality, meat colour and expression of meat colour-related genes in growing-finishing pigs, 189 crossbred Duroc${\times}$(Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) growing-finishing pigs (male, castrated, average initial BW $74.58{\pm}1.52$ kg) were selected and randomly allocated into four groups. Dietary treatments per kg of feed were as follows: 0 (CT), 0.3 mg/kg (T1), 0.6 mg/kg (T2) and 0.9 mg/kg (T3) Cr (in the form of CrMet; as-fed basis), and each treatment was replicated five times with 8 to 10 pigs per replicate pen. During the 28 d of the experiment, both the ADG and the ADFI increased linearly (p<0.05) as the level of dietary Cr increased. The F/G ratio decreased linearly (p<0.05). As dietary Cr increased, loin muscle areas (linear, p = 0.013) and average backfat thickness (linear, p = 0.072) decreased. Shear force (linear, p = 0.070) and Commission Internationale de I'$\acute{E}$clairage (CIE) redness (quadratic, p = 0.028) were increased. In addition, CIE Lightness (quadratic, p = 0.053) were decreased as dietary Cr increased. As dietary Cr increased, total myglobin (Mb) content (quadratic, p = 0.015) and the mb mRNA levels (quadratic, p = 0.046) in longissimus muscles of pigs were up-regulated. In conclusion, supplementation of dietary Cr improved growth and meat colour, but increased shear force and decreased IMF reduced palatability of longissimus muscles. Moreover, the increasing total Mb content and mb mRNA levels indicated that CrMet dietary supplementation may improve meat colour via up-regulating expression of the mb gene.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.14.1-14.7
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• 2015

A feeding trial was carried out to determine the effects of chromium methionine (Cr-Met) chelate and forage level over two years, $1^{st}$ fattening and $2^{nd}$ fattening period on growth parameters, carcass characteristics and blood metabolites of 46 Korean native (Hanwoo, Bos Taurus, $BW=183{\pm}44kg$) steers. Treatments were: 1) Steers in the low forage (LF) group were fed diets that consisted of 60% concentrate and 40% forage; 2) Steers in the high forage (HF) group were fed diets that consisted of 40% concentrate and 60% forage. Following the $1^{st}$ fattening period, steers ($BW=480{\pm}37.6kg$) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: LF (40 F plus no Cr-Met supplementation in the $2^{nd}$ fattening period), LFCM (40LF plus added 400 ppb of Cr-Met during the $2^{nd}$ fattening period), HF (60 F plus no added Cr-Met during the $2^{nd}$ fattening period) and HFCM (60 F plus added 400 ppb of Cr-Met in the $2^{nd}$ fattening period). Dry matter intake of the treatment diets did not differ during the raising and $1^{th}$ fattening period (P > 0.05). The ADG in the raising period showed no difference between the 40 F and 60 F groups (P > 0.05). Carcass characteristics including rib-eye area and meat yield index were higher in HF than the other treatment groups (P < 0.05). The HF group tended to show a higher (P = 0.08) marbling score than the LF group whereas the HFCM group showed a higher marbling score than the LFCM group (P < 0.05). HDL was higher and LDL lower in groups fed with Cr-Met than in other groups whereas glucose showed the lowest value in HF group (P < 0.05). Triglyceride (TG), Cholesterol, PUN and total protein (TP) were the same among all treatment groups (P > 0.05). The Insulin concentration in the blood was significantly higher for the HFCM group than for the LF, LFCM and HF groups (P < 0.05). It is concluded that supplementation of chromium-methionine chelate could improve meat quality in beef steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1547-1554
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• 2009

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of different sources of chromium on growth performance, blood profile and carcass trait in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 200 growing pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire)${\times}$Duroc, average initial weight 8.5 kg) were allotted to 5 treatments with 4 replicates per treatment and 10 pigs per replicate. Five treatments were designated as follows according to the source of chromium. i) Control (No chromium): corn-soybean meal based basal diet, ii) $CrCl_{3}$: control diet+200 ppb Cr as $CrCl_{3}$, iii) CrPic: control diet+200 ppb Cr as Cr picolinate, iv) CrMet-1: control diet+100 ppb Cr as Cr methionine, and v) CrMet-2: control diet+200 ppb Cr as Cr methionine. After the feeding trial, three pigs per replicate (12 pigs per treatment) were slaughtered for the evaluation of carcass traits. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed: gain ratio (F/G) were not different (p>0.05) among dietary Cr sources. However, whole-period ADG of pigs fed CrPic, CrMet-1 and CrMet-2 diets was higher (p<0.05) than for the control diet. Nutrient digestibility was not different (p>0.05) among dietary Cr sources, but the nutrient digestibility of pigs fed CrPic, CrMet-1 and CrMet-2 diets was higher (p<0.05) than for the control diet. BUN level decreased with more magnitude (p<0.05) in pigs fed Cr during the 20 to 50 kg period. Although both serum cholesterol and triglyceride were different (p<0.05) among treatments, there was no consistent response that could be related to the dietary Cr sources regardless of growth phase. However, the overall data suggested that serum cholesterol level increased as BW of pigs increased. Blood total protein (TP) increased (p<0.05) in pigs fed Cr only during the 90-110 kg phase, and blood creatinine (Creat) level was higher in $CrCl_{3}$ and CrPic treatments than in the control only during the 90-110 kg phase. Backfat thickness was thinner (p<0.05) in pigs fed CrMet-2 than in the control treatment. Therefore, lean percentage was higher (p<0.05) in CrMet-2 than in control pigs. However, dressing percentage and Longissimus muscle area (LMA) were not different (p>0.05) among treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 200 ppb Cr, via either CrPic or CrMet, improved pig growth performance and nutrient digestibility. Moreover, dietary CrMet supplementation for the growing-finishing pig is evidently remarkable for improving both lean percentage of the carcass and backfat thickness.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.677-689
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of concentrate level and chromium-methionine (Cr-Met) supplementation on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and fatty acid composition of Tan lambs. Methods: Sixty male Tan lambs (21±1.23 kg body weight) fed a finishing diet (concentrate-to-forage ratio: 35:65 [LC group] or 55:45 [HC group]) with daily Cr-Met supplementation (0, 0.75, or 1.50 g) were used in a completely randomized design with a 2×3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Results: Lambs from the HC group had higher average daily gain, dry matter (DM) digestibility, dressing percentages, leg proportions, intramuscular fat (IMF) contents, and saturated fatty acid levels, but lower feed conversion ratios, globulin (GLB) and total protein (TP) concentrations, shear force, and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels (all p<0.05). Cr-Met supplementation increased the DM digestibility, GLB and TP concentrations, rack and loin percentages, and cooking loss, but decreased the IMF contents and leg proportions (all p<0.05). Cr-Met supplementation at 0.75 g/d increased the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content in both the HC and LC groups (p<0.01). Significant interactions between the concentrate level and Cr-Met dosage were observed for MUFA (p<0.01) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (p<0.01) levels. Meat from the lambs fed an unsupplemented LC diet presented the highest PUFA and MUFA levels (p<0.01). However, the MUFA and PUFA levels decreased significantly with increasing Cr-Met supplementation levels in the LC group (p<0.01), whereas the opposite trend was seen in the HC group. Conclusion: The HC diet improved the growth performance of Tan lambs, increased their profitability by increasing leg and rack joint proportions, and improved meat quality by promoting an IMF content that was more visibly acceptable to consumers. Cr-Met supplementation at 0.75 g/d in a HC diet was the best choice and may be economically beneficial.