Chromium treatment of depression

Eight patients with refractory mood disorders received chromium supplements and described dramatic improvements in their symptoms and functioning. In several instances, single-blind trials confirmed specificity of response to chromium. Side-effects were rare and mild, and most commonly included enha nced dreaming and mild psychomotor activation. To our knowledge, this is th e first case series describing the response to chromium monotherapy. The pu tative antidepressant effects of chromium could be accounted for by enhance ment of insulin utilization and related increases in tryptophan availabilit y in the central nervous system, and/or by chromium's effects on norepineph rine release.