Chromium in serum

Feldman and co-workers117) described a procedure for determining as little as 10 ppb of chromium in serum. The normal level is 30 ppb. At least 2 ml of serum are digested or dry ashed and treated with not permanganate to oxidize chromium to chromium(VI). The chromium(VI) is extracted from 3M HC1 into 5 ml MIBK in the cold. This method has been used to measure chromium levels in studies relating this element to diabetes. Thousands of analyses have been performed. Devoto (198) dry ashed 10 ml of blood and extracted the chromium with 5 ml of 10 % tributyl phosphate in MIBK. Recently, Feldman 119) has determined... 

The finding of higher levels of chromium in serum and lower levels of chromium in erythrocytes of workers exposed mainly to chromium(III) than in workers exposed mainly to chromium(VI) reflects the relative inability of chromium(III) to enter erythrocytes (Minoia and Cavalleri 1988). 

Savory et al. [635] determined chromium in serum. The sample was wet ashed by treatment with sulphuric, nitric and perchloric acids. Finally, the pH was adjusted to 6.0 with a buffer and chelation was effected with a dilute solution of trifluoroacetylacetone at 70°C. The analysis was carried out on 5% of QF-1 on Chromosorb W with the use of a 63Ni ECD. Booth and Darby [636] applied a very similar procedure to soft tissues and serum. They performed the chelation reaction also at 70°C for 1 h. Recoveries of chromium in serum and liver homogenates were 94 and 88—104%, respectively. Ross and Shafik... 

Brune D, Aitio A, Nordberg G, Vesteberg O, Ger-hardsson L. Normal concentrations of chromium in serum and urine—a TRACY project. Scand J Work Environ Health 1993 19 Suppl 1 39-44. 

The first requirement can be easily fulfilled by the preconcentration of the analyte before the analysis. Preconcentration has been applied to sample preparation for flame atomic absorption (25) and, more recently, for ICP (79,80) spectroscopy. However, preconcentration is not completely satisfactory, because of the increased analysis time (which may be critical in clinical analysis) and the increased chance of contamination or sample loss. Most important, however, a larger initial sample size is necessary. The apparent solution is a more sensitive technique. Table 2 lists concentrations of various metals in whole blood or serum (81,82) in comparison to limits of detection for the various atomic spectroscopy techniques. In many cases, especially for the toxic heavy metals, only flameless atomic absorption using a graphite furnace can provide the necessary sensitivity and accommodate a sample of only a few microliters (Table 1). The determination of therapeutic gold in urine and serum (83,84), chromium in serum (85), skin (86) and liver (87), copper in semen (88), arsenic in urine (89), manganese in animal tissues (90), and lead in blood (91) are but a few examples in analyses which have utilized the flameless atomic absorption technique. 

An elevated concentration (50 /less than 4 days at room temperature, less than 3 weeks in a refrigerator, but more than 18 months at -10°C in polyethene or polycarbonate tubes (Anand and Ducharme, 1976). 

Bro, S., Jorgensen, P.J., Christensen, J.M. and Horder, M. (1988). Concentration of nickel and chromium in serum influence of blood sampling technique. J. Trace Elem. Elec-trol. Health Dis., 2, 31. 

The concentration of chromium in serum of unexposed healthy individuals is 0.2pgl, i.e., 5000 times lower than that of zinc and copper. The interest for speciation of chromium in serum was initiated by the finding of extremely high chromium... 

The levels of transition metals in biological samples such as blood serum are frequently important. Many determinations have been made of the levels of (for example) chromium in serum - with startling results. Different workers, all studying pooled serum samples from healthy subjects, have obtained chromium... 

Quantitative gas chromatographic schemes now exist for the determination of beryllium in blood, urine, and tissue,chromium in serum," aluminum in uranium, aluminum, gallium, and indium, in aqueous solu-tions," iron in ore, chromium in steel, titanium in bauxite, aluminum, iron, and copper in alloys,uranium, tungsten and molybdenum in alloys and ores, " and the list continues to grow rapidly. In the ultratrace analysis of beryllium the lower limit of detectability is ca. 10 g. The gas... 

It is known that part of this process involves the 80-kDa blood serum protein transferrin that tightly binds and transports two ferric iron ions. Because the iron binding uses only 30% of transferrin s metal binding capacity, it has long been thought to bind and transfer other metal ions (including perhaps chromium) in vivo, although this has not been demonstrated by experiment. 

Chromium may be transferred to infants via breast milk as indicated by breast milk levels of chromium in women exposed occupationally (Shmitova 1980) or via normal levels in the diet (Casey and Hambidge 1984). It has been demonstrated that in healthy women, the levels of chromium measured in breast milk are independent of serum chromium levels, urinary chromium excretion, or dietary intake of chromium (Anderson et al. 1993, Mohamedshah et al. 1998), but others (Engelhardt et al. 1990) have disputed this observation. 

Elevated levels of chromium in blood, serum, urine, and other tissues and organs have been observed in patients with cobalt-chromium knee and hip arthroplasts (Michel et al. 1987 Sunderman et al. 1989). Whether corrosion or wear of the implant can release chromium (or other metal components) into the systemic circulation depends on the nature of the device. In one study, the mean postoperative blood and urine levels of chromium of nine patients with total hip replacements made from a cast cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy were 3.9 and 6.2 pg/F, respectively, compared with preoperative blood and urine levels of 1.4 and 0.4 pg/F, respectively. High blood and urinary levels of chromium persisted when measured at intervals over a year or more after surgery. These data suggest significant wear or corrosion... 

A steady increase in serum chromium was found with length of time on TPN. In some patients, the serum chromium levels were near the upper normal value of 0.2 mg/L and others were up to 8- to 25-fold greater then normal values. No significant correlations were observed with respect to sleep disturbances, daytime mental changes, colorful dreams, frightening dreams, or nightmares. 

Normal chromium levels in human fluid and tissues should be interpreted with caution. The low sensitivity of the most commonly used detection methods and the ubiquitous presence of chromium in laboratories make detection of low levels of chromium in blood and urine difficult. Everyone is exposed to chromium in the diet, estimated to range from 25 to 224 pg/day with an average of 76 pg/day (Kumpulainen et al. 1979). Only a small amount of dietary chromium is absorbed ( 3%). Normal endogenous chromium levels for the general population (exposed only via the diet) have been reported as 0.01-0.17 pg/L (median 0.06 pg/L) in serum (Sunderman et al. 1989), 0.24-1.8 pg/L (median 0.4 pg/L) in urine (Iyengar and Woittiez 1988), and 0.234 mg/kg in hair (Takagi et al. 1986). 

Elevated levels of chromium in blood, serum, urine, and other tissues and organs have been observed in patients with cobalt-chromium knee and hip arthroplasts (Coleman et al. 1973 Michel et al. 1987 Sunderman et al. 1989). 

The problem of developing accurate data for chromium in biological samples is further complicated by the lack of Standard Reference Materials (SRM). Only recently have chromium certified materials, such as brewer s yeast (SRM-1569), bovine liver (SRM-1577), human serum (SRM-909), urine (SRM-2670), orchard leaves (SRM-1571), spinach leaves (SRM-1570), pine needles (SRM-1575), oyster tissue (SRM-1566), and tomato leaves (SRM-1573) been issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards). Because of the lack of SRMs, the less recent data should be interpreted with caution (EPA 1984a), unless the data are verified by interlaboratory studies. 

Cavalleri A, Minoia C. 1985. Distribution in serum and erythrocytes and urinary elimination in workers exposed to chromium(VI) and chromium(ni). G Ital Med Lav 7 35-38. 

Minoia C, Cavalleri A. 1988. Chromium in urine, serum and red blood cells in the biological monitoring of workers exposed to different chromium valency states. Sci Total Environ 71 323-327. 

Mohamedshah FY, Moser-Veillon PB, Yamini S, et al. 1998. Distribution of a stable isotope of chromium (53Cr) in serum, urine, and breast milk in lactating women. Am J Clin Nutr 67 1250-1255. 

Black, M. S., Sievers, R. E. Determination of chromium in human blood serum by gas-chromatography with a microwave-excited emission detector. Anal. Chem. 48, 1872 (1976)... 

Although requirements for vitamins and trace elements are known in health (Table 30-1), the effects of illness on these requirements are poorly understood and quantified. However, it is now apparent that as an individual develops progressively more severe depletion in vitamin or trace element status, the person passes through a series of stages with biochemical or physiological consequences. The metabolic or physiological penalty of such suboptimal nutritional status is usually not clear, but the assumption remains that the suboptimal metabolism is likely to have detrimental effects (e.g., subclinical deficiency of folic acid is associated with an increase in serum homocysteine concentration, which is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease—see Chapter 26). Similarly, subclinical deficiency of chromium may be associated with impaired glucose tolerance in certain types of diabetes. 

Leung FY, Galbraith LV. Elevated serum chromium in patients on total parenteral nutrition and the ionic species of contaminant chromium. Biol Trace Elem Res 1995 50 221-8. 

Schermeier AJ, O Coimor LH, Pearson KH. Semi-automated determination of chromium in whole blood and serum by Zeeman electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Clin Chem Acta 1985 152 123-34. 

Bartolozzi a and Black J (1985) Chromium concentrations in serum blood clot and urine from patients following total hip arthroplasty. Biomaterials 6 2-8. 

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