Vanadium compounds as insulin mimics.

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. Elucidation of the mechanism(s) of action and potentiation of vanadium's insulin-mimetic effect by appropriate ligand binding would seem to be the highest priorities for future investigation.