Researchers have observed that a compound may prove to be useful in the treatment of type II diabetes, a disorder characterised by the failure of insulin to act, resulting in raised levels of glucose and lipids in the blood. A team comprising Urmila A Shinde, Anita A Mehta and Ramesh K Goyal of the Department of Pharmacology, L M College of Pharmacy (Ahmedabad, India) studied the effect of Bis(maltolato)oxovanadium (IV) (BMOV), an organic complex of Vanadium and Maltol, on diabetic rats.
The rats were made to develop non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus by injecting a compound called streptozotocin. Reporting their findings in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, the scientists said the treatment with BMOV normalized increased glucose levels in diabetic animals without changing the insulin levels.It indicated that BMOV was acting as an insulin sensitising agent. The compound also reduced the cholesterol levels in diabetic animals that have raised levels of cholesterol in comparison with normal animals. However, treatment did not have any significant effect on cholesterol levels in non-diabetic animals.
