Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of vanadium and/or insulin on the proinflammatory
biomarkers in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rat model. Sixty male Sprague Dawley
rats were divided into six groups (n = 10). Control group, control vanadium group, T2DM group,
insulin-treated diabetic group, vanadium-treated diabetic group, and concomitant insulin and
vanadium-treated diabetic group. At the end of the experiment, serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile,
tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-
CRP), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and
adiponectin were measured. Administration of insulin and/or vanadium significantly decreased in the
plasma levels of glucose, lipid profile, TNF-α, IL-6, hs-CRP, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 with significant
increase in adiponectin in comparison to the diabetic group. Concomitant administration of insulin
and vanadium significantly improved the above measured parameters compared to either insulin or
vanadium treatment. Based on our results we can conclude that administration of both vanadium
and insulin reduced the low-grade systemic inflammation in T2DM, through reduction of both proinflammatory
cytokines and adhesion molecules and increase adiponectin.