Glucose-lowering effects of bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(iv) are
distinct from food restriction in stz-diabetic rats.
Yuen, V. G., C. Orvig, and J. H. McNeill.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Chemistry, The
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z3 Canada
APStracts 3:0178E, 1996.
In association with the insulin-mimetic properties, vanadium and
related compounds have been shown to normalize the hyperphagia
associated with diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to
clarify the effects of an organic vanadium compound,
bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) (BMOV), versus food restriction on the
metabolic abnormalities which occur in diabetes. BMOV was
administered daily in the drinking water to streptozotocin diabetic
rats for six weeks. Body weight and food and fluid intake were
measured daily. The pair fed groups were fed based on the intake for
their respective counterparts from the previous day. Plasma glucose,
insulin, riglyceride and cholesterol levels were measured weekly
following a carefully controlled 5-hour fasting period. At
termination, cardiac function was assessed utilizing the isolated
working heart preparation. BMOV reduced plasma glucose, triglyceride
and cholesterol levels to normal (glucose: control = 8.8 +/- 0.4,
control-treated = 8.1 +/- 0.5, control-pair fed = 8.4 +/- 0.6,
diabetic = 31.2 +/- 1.9, diabetic-treated = 10.2 +/- 1.8 and
diabetic-pair fed = 34.2 +/- 1.1 mmol/l, p < 0.01). There was a
significant reduction in body weight gain expressed as a percent
increase of the original body weight in the diabetic-pair fed group
as compared to both diabetic and diabetic-treated (diabetic = 19 +/-
1, diabetic-treated = 19 +/- 2 and diabetic-pair fed = 0 +/- 4a %, a
- different from diabetic, p < 0.01). BMOV administration but
not pair feeding was effective in preventing the decreased cardiac
function observed in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. These data suggest
that the glucose-lowering properties of BMOV are independent of the
effects of dietary restriction and reinforce the efficacy of BMOV as
an effective antihyperglycemic agent.
Received 9 May 1996; accepted in final form 14 August 1996.
APS Manuscript Number E235-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 19 September 1996