ABSTRACT
Chromium is among the heavy metals with varying concentration varies in different population depending on the environmental exposure and personal hygiene. The objective was to determine the reference value of chromium in the biological samples including blood, serum and urine of an adult healthy male population living in Sialkot. A total of 131 healthy male subjects aged 18-60 who are not working in the chromium related industry, were randomly recruited from Sialkot, Pakistan. Blood and urine samples were collected in metal free vacutainers and plastic urine containers respectively. Whole blood samples were pretreated by digestion in Multiwave 3000 microwave oven. Whole blood chromium [WBCr], serum chromium [SCr] and urine chromium [UCr] were analyzed on graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer [GFAAS] Perkin Elmer model 200. Total 131 males with mean age of 34.1+10.53 years participated in the study. Chromium levels in different biological fluids revealed non-Gaussian distribution. The subjects had median [2.5-97.5 percentile] of WBCr 318.45 [44.94 - 550.59], SCr 8.12 [3.1 - 26.17] nmol/L and UCr 1.16 [0.12 - 9.17] nmol/mmol of creatinine. The male [> 40 years] had lower chromium levels as compared to younger individuals. Positive correlation was observed between blood and serum[r =0.40, p= 0.001]; blood and urine levels[r =0.29, p= 0.001]. Chromium reference range in all the biological samples in adult male population of Sialkot is higher than reported in literatures for the western population but comparable to Asians. Senior citizens have lower chromium levels as compared to the younger. Positive correlation was observed among all biological fluids