effect of sodium metavanadate supplementation on lipid and glucose levels in type 2 diabetic patients refered to yazd diabetes research center in summer 2007

background and objective type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive illness that causes considerable morbidity and mortality. despite recent technical advances in therapy, more people are using alternative therapies. in this study evaluated the effect of sodium metavanadate on glucose levels and lipid profile in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.   methods this is a randomized, controlled trial study. forty subjects admitted to yazd diabetes research center, yazd, iran were divided randomly into two groups and supplemented daily with 100 mg sodium metavanadate or placebo for six weeks. body mass index (bmi), blood pressure and fasting blood sugar (fbs), 2-h postprandial glucose( 2hpp), glycated hemoglobin (hba1c), triglyceride (tg), cholesterol (chol), low-density lipoproteins ( ldl), high-density lipoproteins (hdl), blood urea nitrogen( bun ), creatinin (cr), alanine aminotransferases (alt), aspartate aminotransferases(ast) were assayed before and after 6 weeks sodium metavanadate supplementation. hba1c, bmi and blood pressure also were analyzed in 12 th week to evaluate the long term effect of drugs.   results thirty eight patients with mean age of 53.10±8.48 years old were included in the study. although fbs, hba1c, cholesterol and ldl levels decreased after six weeks supplementation but it was not statistically significant. however a significant decrease occurred in tg levels (p=0.01) and bmi (p=0.03). after 12 weeks, there was a significant decrease in bmi (p=0.01).   conclusion it is recommended to test another vanadium compound in type 2 diabetic patients to achieve better results.