ABSTRACT
Interest in understanding the biological effects of vanadium compounds has been stimulated by the potential uses of vanadium as a therapy for diabetes or cancer and the availability of vanadium in supplements widely taken by the general population and athletes. The first modern indications of the biological effects of vanadium compounds was the 1977 finding that vanadium found in muscle inhibited the sodium potassium ATPase [1]. This finding prompted a search into the general role of vanadium in biological systems [2]. This chapter contains an overview of recent studies involving the impact of experiments in which vanadium compounds are added to enzymes involved in phosphate metabolism, cell membranes, whole cells, and animals. Detailed studies involving the chemistry of vanadium compounds added to purified proteins and nucleic acids can be found in specialized volumes [3,4] and reviews [5]. The work described here includes descriptions of living organisms in which doses of vanadium in the mmol/L to nmol/L range are utilized experimentally. The lower range of concentrations are generally employed when vanadium compounds are added directly to cells, whereas the higher range is utilized when vanadium compounds are given orally to animals.
