Placental vanadium in gestational diabetes mellitus

Although many studies in animal models and in cell cultures have shown that vanadate has insulin-like effects, it has not been studied in human diabetes mellitus. In this study the levels of vanadium in human placentae from 23 pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus were compared with 18 uncomplicated non-diabetic pregnancies closely matched for maternal age, gravidity, and gestational age. Using the unpaired Student's t-test, the mid-disc placental levels in gestational diabetes (7.62 +/- 1.29 micrograms/g dry weight) were significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than controls (8.73 +/- 1.85 micrograms/g dry weight). These findings appear to be independent of placental size and birthweight. When these data were analyzed according to treatment, the vanadium levels in insulin-treated cases (8.07 +/- 1.32 micrograms/g dry weight) were not significantly different from the matched controls (8.84 +/- 1.69 micrograms/dry weight); the levels in noninsulin treated cases (7.08 +/- 1.25 micrograms/g dry weight), however, were significantly (p less than 0.005) lower than controls (8.99 +/- 1.96 micrograms/g dry weight). It is interesting to speculate that there may be increased binding of vanadium to maternal tissues in human diabetes mellitus when insulin is deficient.