ABSTRACT
The toxic effects of vanadium, a group V element of the periodic table, have been well documented over the last few decades both by the scientific community and by environmental activists. Inorganic vanadium has been directly or indirectly associated with a host of pathophysiological conditions. The common portal of vanadium entry into the human body was earlier recognized as soil-borne food source. However, in an era of industrialization and consequent rise in demand formetal and petrochemicals, the focus has shifted to inhalation of vanadium in the form of vanadium pentoxide dust. Many attributes of vanadium toxicity are directly linked to the close resemblance of the pentavalent vanadate with phosphate, an integral molecule of many intracellular signal transduction pathways. However, the scientific community has exploited this resemblance to design novel therapeutics based on inhibition of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases (PTPs), key enzymes responsible for turning off Protein Tyrosine Kinase (PTK)-based intracellular signaling pathways. The strategy has gained significant attention for the treatment of many debilitating human ailments such as diabetes and cancer. This chapter summarizes the key issues in understanding vanadium-associated cellular toxicity in designing new generation vanadium-based health augmentation formulations.
