摘要：Chromium picolinate is widely used as a supplement to improve glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and lipid profile. Its actions, however, extend beyond these metabolic changes, as it has positive effects in the clinical setting of cardiovascular disease, shows anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and even modulates behavior patterns, such as in depression and anxiety. In view of the numerous possible applications of chromium picolinate, understanding the therapeutic properties of this supplement becomes necessary. Thus, the aim of this review is clarify and identify the applications of chromium picolinate, as well as its effectiveness under several clinical conditions. A systematic review was performed during July and September of 2015 through a search on PubMed, Web of Knowledge and SciElo databases using the keywords ‘chromium picolinate’ and ‘supplementation’. Articles selected were published between 2005 and 2015 and written in English, Portuguese and Spanish. The search resulted in 361 articles (Web of Knowledge: 245, Pubmed: 115, SciElo: 1) and after inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied, 12 articles were selected to analyze by reading the full text. Articles reviewed demonstrate that chromium picolinate has a positive action in glucose control, oxidative stress, lipid profile, protein synthesis, binge eating disorder and cognitive decline, although some studies showed absence of effect. Also, a difference was observed in dosage of the supplementation among different samples and there was a largely variable time of treatment. Chromium picolinate supplementation appears to positively contribute to the improvement of metabolic control and health, and could potentially be used as an auxiliary therapy in several diseases.
