Vanadium

Custom Search

Vanadium mimics many of the actions of insulin in the body and has been studied for a potential role in the treatment of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and insulin resistance.  

Vanadium is a beautifully coloured mineral which occurs in nature only in combination with other elements.  Once refined, the outer layer oxidises, protecting the interior from oxidation.  The photograph to the left is of refined vanadium in various states of oxidation.  There are many forms of vanadium, but for therapeutic purposes vanadyl sulfate is most appropriate.

A study on human volunteers with type II diabetes found that fasting blood sugar levels and HbA1c levels dropped by around 10-15% after three weeks of therapy with 100 mg per day of vanadyl sulfate and that the effects were sustained two weeks after therapy ceased.  The study found that these effects were caused by a reduction in the production of glucose by the liver and an increase in the uptake of glucose by peripheral muscle cells.  80% of the effect was attributed to increased peripheral insulin sensitivity.  Like d-chiro-inositol, vanadium’s action on glucose metabolism appears to be largely post-receptor or within the cell.

It is worth noting that 75% of the participants in the study experienced some gastrointestinal distress during the first week of the study as a result of the extremely high dosage.  Whilst the study did split the daily dosage amount into two separate doses, it may be beneficial to slowly build up intestinal tolerance over a week.

Long-term vanadium treatment causes marked and sustained decreases in plasma glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Chronic treatment also ameliorates secondary complications of diabetes including cardiomyopathy, vascular hyperactivity and cataract formation.  There is also some evidence that it may stimulate protein synthesis and thus muscle tissue development.

Vanadium supplements at very high doses seem to improve insulin receptor sensitivity in those in whom its function is impaired.  Studies indicate that therapeutic results are achieve in 50% of people at 300 mg/day.

Other studies in rats indicate that vanadium therapy has long-lasting effects, providing up to 20 weeks protection against pancreatic damage from just two weeks of treatment in 50% of subjects.  This study found evidence to support the theory that vanadium has a protective effect on pancreatic beta-cells, which are responsible for producing insulin.

Like metformin, long term treatment with vanadium normalises the amount of glucose produced by the liver.  When rats are treated with vanadium and then given insulin, they are more sensitive towards that insulin.  I.e. the reduction in blood glucose levels is greater in the rats who received vanadium treatment, compared with controls, who did not.  Vanadium treatment also restores insulin stimulated MAP and S6 kinase activities in skeletal muscle tissue.  MAP stands for mitogen activated protein and they regulate various cellular activities.  S6 kinase is a family of protein kinases involved in signal transduction.  Some studies have used vanadium in conjunction with selenium to improve insulin sensitivity with positive results.

That vanadium compounds act in an insulin-mimetic fashion both in vitro and in vivo has been well established. Both inorganic and organic vanadium compounds have been shown to lower plasma glucose levels, increase peripheral glucose uptake, improve insulin sensitivity, decrease plasma lipid levels, and normalize liver enzyme activities in a variety of animal models of both type I and type II diabetes. Vanadium treatment of diabetic animals does not restore plasma insulin levels but may spare pancreatic insulin.

The exact cellular mechanism of action of vanadium appears to involve a combination of several post-receptor events in the insulin-signaling cascade, as is the case with d-chiro inositol.  Vanadium has a broad range of effect on multiple components of carbohydrate metabolism including glucose transport, glucose transporter translocation, glycolysis and glycolytic enzymes, glucose oxidation, glucose output and glycogen synthesis. The insulin-like effects of vanadium also extend to the lipid metabolic pathways and on protein metabolism and mitogenesis.  Chronic vanadium treatment corrects abnormalities in glycolytic enzymes such as phosphofructokinase-2 and glucokinase.

Whilst the research into the effect of vanadium on carbohydrate metabolism and insulin sensitivity is intriguing, it is essential to be cautious with applying this information to human therapy.  At higher intakes, such as appear to be required for a therapeutic effect on carbohydrate metabolism, vanadium accumulates in body tissues such as liver, kidney and bone and symptoms of overdose may become apparent.

The average diet provides between 10-30 µg of vanadium per day.  The National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board have established a maximum safe long-term daily dose of 1.8 mg.  The dosages required to achieve a therapeutic effect from vanadium are clearly significantly higher than this and thus vanadium therapy for insulin resistance must be considered to fall within the orthomolecular or pharmacological range, rather than that of a nutritional supplement.

Long-term vanadium treatment causes marked and sustained decreases in plasma glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels, three markers which are commonly elevated in women with PCOS.  Chronic treatment with vanadium also ameliorates the secondary complications of diabetes including cardiomyopathy, hypertension, vascular hyperactivity and cataract formation.  As many women with PCOS progress to full-blown Type II diabetes in later life, this is a mineral which we should all consider, albeit with caution.

More Information:

Barnes DM, Sykes DB, Shechter Y, Miller DS: Multiple sites of vanadate and peroxovanadate action in Xenopus oocytes. J Cell Physiol 162:154–161, 1995.

Bhanot S, McNeill JH, Bryer-Ash M: Vanadyl sulfate prevents fructose induced hyperinsulinemia and hypertension in rats. Hypertension 23:308–312, 1994.

Blondel O, Bailbe D, Portha B: In vivo insulin resistance in streptozotocin-diabetic rats-evidence for reversal following vanadate treatment. Diabetologia 32:185–190, 1989.

Boden, G et al.; Chen, X; Ruiz, J; Van Rossum, GD; Turco, S (1996;). “Effects of vanadyl sulfate on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus”. Metabolism 45 (9): 1130–5. DOI:10.1016/S0026-0495(96)90013-X. PMID 8781301.

Brichard SM, Desbuquois B, Girard J: Vanadate treatment of diabetic rats reverses the impaired expression of genes involved in hepatic glucose metabolism: effects on glycolytic and gluconeogenic enzymes and on glucose transporter GLIT2. Mol Cell Endocrinol 91:91–97, 1993.

Byrne AR, Kosta L: Vanadium in foods and in human body fluids and tissues. Sci Total Environ 10:17–30, 1993.

Cohen N, Halberstam M, Shlimovich P, Chang CJ, Shamoon H, Rossetti L. Oral vanadyl sulfate improves hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Clin Invest. 1995 Jun;95(6):2501-9.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7769096

Duckworth WC, Solomon SS, Liepnieks J, Hamel FG, Hand S, Peavy DE: Insulin-like effects of vanadate in isolated rat adipocytes. Endocrinology 122:2285–2289, 1988.

French RJ, Jones PJ. Role of vanadium in nutrition: metabolism, essentiality and dietary considerations. Life Sci. 1993;52(4):339-46.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8421433

Gil J, Miralpeix M, Carreras J, Bartrons R: Insulin like effects of vanadate on glucokinase activity and fructose 2,6 bisphosphate levels in livers of diabetic rats. J Biol Chem 263:1868–1871, 1988.

Green A: The insulin like effect of sodium vanadate on adipocytetransport is mediated at a post-insulin receptor level. Biochem J238:663–669, 1993.

Hajjar JJ, Fucci JC, Rowe WA, Tomicic TK: Effect of vanadate on amino acid transport in rat jejunum. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 184:403–409, 1987.Bhanot S, McNeill JH: Vanadyl sulfate lowers plasma insulin levels and blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Hypertension 24:625–632, 1994.

Hei Y-J, Chen X, Pelech SL, Diamond J, McNeill JH: Skeletal muscle mitogen activated protein kinases and ribosomal S6 kinases. Suppression in chronic diabetes and reversal by vanadium.  Diabetes 44:1147–1155, 1995.

Hei YJ, Farahbakhshian S, Chen X, Battell ML, McNeill JH.  Stimulation of MAP kinase and S6 kinase by vanadium and selenium in rat adipocytes. Mol Cell Biochem. 1998 Jan;178(1-2):367-75.

Jackson T, Salhanick AI, Sparks JD, Sparks CE, Bolognino M, Amatrude JM: Insulin-mimetic effects of vanadate in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. Diabetes 37:1234–1240, 1954.

Jacques-Camarena O, González-Ortiz M, Martínez-Abundis E, López-Madrueño JF, Medina-Santillán R.  Effect of vanadium on insulin sensitivity in patients with impaired glucose tolerance.  Ann Nutr Metab. 2008;53(3-4):195-8. Epub 2008 Nov 22.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19033682

Kimura K.  Role of essential trace elements in the disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism.  Nihon Rinsho. 1996 Jan;54(1):79-84.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8587210

McNeill JH, Yuen VG, Dai S, Orvig C: Increased potency of vanadium using organic ligands. Mol Cell Biochem 153:175–180, 1995.

Maher PA: Stimulation of endothelial cell proliferation by vanadate is specific for microvascular endothelial cells. J Cell Physiol 151:549–554, 1992.

Miralpeix M, Carballo E, Bartrons R: Effects of vanadate on 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase activity and fructose 2,6 bisphosphate levels in cultured rat hepatocytes. Cell Biochem Func 8:237–241, 1990.

Morita T, Imagawa T, Kanagawa A, Ueki H: Sodium orthovanadate increases phospholipase A2 activity in isolated rat fat pats: a role of phospholipase A2 in the vanadate stimulated release of lipoprotein lipase activity. Biol Pharm Bull 18:347–349, 1995.

Nakai M, Watanabe H, Fujiwara C, Kakegawa H, Satoh T, Takeda J, Matsushita R, Sakurai H: Mechanism on insulin-like action of vanadyl sulfate: studies on interaction between rat adipocytes and vanadium compounds. J Pharm Soc Jap 18:119–125, 1995.

Nechay BR: Mechanisms of action of vanadium. Ann Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 24:501–524, 1984.

Orvig C, Thompson KH, Battell M, McNeill JH: Vanadium compounds as insulin mimics. In Sigel H, Sigel A (eds) “Metal Ions in Biological Systems” New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 1995.

Orvig C, Thompson KH, Battell M, McNeill JH.  Vanadium compounds as insulin mimics.  Met Ions Biol Syst. 1995;31:575-94.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8564818

Pugazhenthi S, Khandelwal R: Insulin-like effects of vanadate on hepatic glycogen metabolism in nondiabetic and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Diabetes 39:821–827, 1990.

Ramanadham S, Cros GH, Mongold JJ, Serrano JJ, McNeill JH. Enhanced in vivo sensitivity of vanadyl treated diabetic rats to insulin. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 68:486–491, 1990.

Shechter Y, Karlish SJ. Insulin-like stimulation of glucose oxidation in rat adipocytes by vanadyl (IV) ions. Nature. 1980 Apr 10;284(5756):556-8

Talbott, Shawn M.; Hughes, Kerry (2007). “Vanadium”. The Health Professional’s Guide to Dietary Supplements. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 419–422. ISBN 978-0-7817-4672-4.

Tamura S, Brown TA, Whipple JH, Fujita-Yamaguchi Y, Dubler RE, Cheng K, Larner J: A novel mechanism for the insulin-like effect of vanadate on glycogen synthase in rat adipocytes. J Biol Chem 259:6650–6658, 1984.

Tamura S, Brown TA, Dubler RE, Larner J: Insulin-like effect of vanadate on adipocyte glycogen synthase and on phosphorylation of 95,000 dalton subunit of insulin receptor. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 113:80–86, 1983.

Tas S, Sarandol E, Ayvalik SZ, Serdar Z, Dirican M.  Vanadyl sulfate, taurine, and combined vanadyl sulfate and taurine treatments in diabetic rats: effects on the oxidative and antioxidative systems.  Arch Med Res. 2007 Apr;38(3):276-83. Epub 2007 Jan 22.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17350476

Thompson KH, Orvig C.  Vanadium compounds in the treatment of diabetes.  Met Ions Biol Syst. 2004;41:221-52.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15206118

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Custom Search     Vanadium mimics many of the actions of insulin in the body and has been studied for a potential role in the treatment of obesity, hypertension, diabetes...