Effects of bis(α-furancarboxylato)oxovanadium(IV) on glucose metabolism in fat-fed/streptozotocin-diabetic rats

Bis(α-furancarboxylato)oxovanadium(IV) (BFOV) is a new orally active anti-diabetic organic vanadium complex. In the previous studies, we found that BFOV exhibited a glucose-lowering activity following oral administration to type 1-like diabetic mice induced by alloxan and rats induced by streptozotocin, and the mechanism was not related to enhancing the insulin synthesis and secretion. Since the enhancement of insulin sensitivity is involved in one of the mechanisms by which vanadium exerts its anti-diabetic effects, BFOV has been further tested on fat-fed/streptozotocin-treated rats, a type 2-like diabetic animal model, in the present study. The results showed that 4 weeks of BFOV treatment significantly improved hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia, as well as increased insulin sensitivity index in the fat-fed/streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Furthermore, BFOV efficiently activated glucokinase, increased hepatic glycogen content and suppressed phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression in the liver and kidney of the diabetic rats, which contributed to augmentation of hepatic glucose disposal and maintenance of blood glucose homeostasis. These findings suggested that BEOV had anti-diabetic and insulin-sensitizing effects in the diabetic rats, exhibiting the potential to be developed as a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.