Effect of vanadium treatment on tissue distribution of biotrace elements in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: Simultaneous analysis of V and Zn using radioactive multitracer

Because vanadium ions such as vanadyl (VO) and vanadate (VO3−) ions were demonstrated to normalize blood glucose levels of diabetic animals and patients, the action mechanism of vanadium treatment has been of interest. In this study, we focused on understanding interactions among trace elements in diabetic rats, in which a multitracer technique was used. The effects of vanadyl sulfate (VS)-treatment on the tissue distribution of trace vanadium (V) and zinc (Zn) in normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats were examined, and were evaluated in terms of the uptake ratio. The uptake ratio of both elements in tissues significantly changed between STZ-rats and those treated with VS. These results indicated that vanadium treatment in STZ-rats alters the tissue distribution of endogenous elements, suggesting the importance of the relationship between biotrace elements and pathophysiology.