Vanadium in diabetes: 100 years from Phase 0 to Phase I

A little over one hundred years ago, a vanadium-containing compound was assessed clinically for use in treatment of human diabetic patients. The results were somewhat ambiguous, but nonetheless, intriguing. In 2000, the first Phase I clinical trial of a designed vanadium-based pharmaceutical agent (bis(ethylmaltolato)oxovanadium(IV), BEOV), was completed by Medeval Ltd., Manchester, UK. Results here, too, were promising, but not without some difficult remaining questions. In this review, we look back at the many questions asked and answered regarding vanadium's glucose-enhancing potential, its biodistribution and biomolecular transformation, and its mechanism(s) of action, and consider some of the newest developments in the field, including novel delivery methods for vanadium in diabetes treatment.