Tungstate Improves Glucose Homeostasis in Diabetic Rats
I must admit, this is the first I’ve ever heard of tungstate being used for anything other the light bulbs; let alone health care. But, there was a time I would’ve said the same of lithium, vanadium or chromium when it came to glucose control. Live and learn…
Diabetes 2001;50:131-138 Dr. Joan J. Guinovart from Universitat de Barcelona and colleagues have previously shown that tungstate lowers blood glucose levels in rats made insulin deficient to simulate type 1 diabetes. In the current study, the researchers administered tungstate orally to 7.5-week-old Zucker diabetic fatty rats, which are “considered the closest available rat model to human type 2 diabetes associated with obesity.” The animals had begun to show hyperglycemia, and the treatment temporarily reversed this for about 10 days. Glucose levels then rose again but stabilized at about 200 mg/dL at day 24. In contrast, the glucose level of untreated rats rose to a maximum value of 450 mg/dL. Tungstate treatment caused serum triglyceride levels to fall by 42%, and normalized hepatic concentrations of glucose-6-phosphate. The researchers also found that the treatment led to 55% higher glycogen levels in the liver compared with untreated diabetic or healthy rats. Treatment did not cause a significant change in phosphotyrosine-modified proteins in cultured hepatocytes from diabetic animals. “These data suggest that tungstate administration to Zucker diabetic fatty rats causes a considerable reduction of glycemia, mainly through a partial restoration of hepatic glucose metabolism and a decrease in lipotoxicity,” Dr. Guinovart and colleagues conclude.