Vanadium compounds exert various insulin-mimetic and anti-diabetic effects both in vitro and in vivo. Vanadium(III, IV, V)-chlorodipicolinate (Vdipic-Cl) compounds, including H[VIII(dipic-Cl)2] · 5H2O (V3dipic-Cl), VIVO(dipic-Cl)(H2O)2 (V4dipic-Cl) and K[VVO2(dipic-Cl)] (V5dipic-Cl), were synthesized with the indicated oxidation states. The present study was conducted to investigate if chemical valence and anti-oxidation effects of vanadium compounds are involved in the anti-diabetic effects observed in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats treated with these vanadium compounds. V3dipic-Cl, V4dipic-Cl, V5dipic-Cl, inorganic vanadium salts vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) or sodium metavanadate (NaVO3) were orally administered in drinking water (50 μgV/ml) to STZ-induced diabetic rats for 28 days. The results showed that Vdipic-Cl treatment significantly improved hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance, as well as increased hepatic glycogen synthesis in diabetic rats. The mRNA levels of key glycolytic enzymes in liver, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucokinase (GK), and L-pyruvate kinase (L-PK) altered in diabetic animals were significantly restored towards normal values by treatment with some of the vanadium compounds. Moreover, the diabetes elevated activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum were significantly decreased after treatment with Vdipic-Cl complexes. Furthermore, treatment of diabetic rats with V4dipic-Cl and V5dipic-Cl compounds significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) production and increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) activities. These data suggest that vanadium compounds with the indicated chemical valence promote glycogen synthesis and recover suppressed glycolysis in the liver of diabetic rats due to their capacity to reduce oxidative stress by stimulating antioxidant enzymes.
