Effects of parenteral vanadium administration on pulmonary metabolism of rats

Daily, intraperitoneal administration of either vanadium pentoxide (VP) or sodium vanadate (NaV) at a dose of 1 mg/kg for 14 days produced no marked change in pulmonary protein, glycogen and phospholipid (PL) levels of adult male rats. Increasing the VP dose to 4 mg/kg decreased lung PL content, while an equivalent NaV dose elevated tissue glycogen. Treatment with either dosage of NaV elevated the activities of pulmonary 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), pyruvate kinase (PK) and glutathione peroxidase (GP), and the higher dose increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glutathione reductase (GR). The 1 mg/kg VP produced a significant rise in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and 6PGDH. while the higher VP dose in general failed to alter enzymic activity. Our data suggest that similar to intratracheal instillation, parenteral administration of vanadium exerts an effect on lung metabolism of rats.