Effect of vanadate on reproductive efficiency in normal and streptozocin-treated diabetic rats.

The effects of oral vanadate treatment on the reproductive efficiency of normal and diabetic female rats were studied. Vanadate treatment in a dose-dependent manner reduced both the conception rate and the ability to carry pregnancy to term compared with a control group. These effects were more severe in diabetic groups as compared with nondiabetic groups. At the 0.25 mg/mL vanadate dose, the conception rate was reduced by 13% and 33% for the nondiabetic group and the diabetic group, respectively. At the 0.50 mg/mL dose, this rate decreased by 20% and 47% for the nondiabetic and diabetic groups, respectively. With an identical oral vanadate regimen of 0.25 mg/mL, the ability to sustain pregnancy to term was reduced by 30% and 90% for the nondiabetic and diabetic groups, respectively, and by 84% and 100% for these groups at a dose of 0.50 mg/mL. Although the blood vanadate concentrations were an order of magnitude higher in diabetic animals treated with vanadate than in nondiabetic animals under an identical vanadate treatment, oral vanadate treatments had no measurable effects in ameliorating hyperglycemia in these diabetic pregnant animals. In conclusion, vanadate is ineffective in normalizing blood glucose in pregnant diabetic rats, and it impairs reproductive capacity and the ability to sustain pregnancy to term in both nondiabetic and diabetic animals.