In vivo MR approaches to validate the capacity of a new vanadium compound as a promising anti-diabetic drug

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a known metabolic disorder characteristic of developed countries and with high prevalence in children and adolescent. Recently, World Health Organization had indicated that DM is the world’s fastest-growing disease, being responsible for almost 3 million deaths worldwide per year. Type 1 and type 2 DM are both associated with a continuous hyperglycemic condition that contributes to the development of other dangerous pathologies such as obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. At the moment, some anti-diabetic treatments are available, since synthetic drugs to insulin injections; but the painful, discomfort and the lack of efficiency of these strategies ask for a drug that solves this current problem. In recent years, different studies have emerged about the anti-diabetic properties of vanadium compounds. The potentiality of these agents encouraged their use in human clinical trials; however the toxicological effects compromise their success. Recently, a more efficient insulin-mimetic drug, Bis-[3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethyl-4-pyridinonato] oxovanadium (IV), also called VO(dmpp)2, has been studied. The efficacy obtained with this compound in vitro encouraged further work, paving the way to implement this insulin-mimetic compound in clinical trials. Therefore, an in vivo study was conducted using obese Zucker rats as an animal model of obesity and insulin resistance. The aim of this study is to elucidate the effect of VO(dmpp)2 on impaired lipid and glucose metabolism of pre-diabetic obese Zucker rats by using in vivo Magnetic Resonance and others biological techniques.