What is it about?
This study explores how long-term oral exposure to different doses of vanadium citrate—an insulin-mimetic compound—affects carbohydrate metabolism and the activity of key glycolytic enzymes like lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) across various tissues (skeletal muscle, liver, kidneys, and pancreas) in male and female Wistar rats. By examining healthy animals during active puberty, the research highlights how biological sex and precise dosage dictate metabolic responses, revealing distinct patterns of tissue sensitivity and metabolic stability without causing signs of clinical toxicity.
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Why is it important?
While vanadium compounds are known for their insulin-like properties, their tissue-, dose-, and sex-specific effects in healthy organisms have remained poorly understood. This work bridges that gap by demonstrating that males and females have distinct metabolic "sweet spots" or optimal therapeutic windows (e.g., 3 mug/kg for males and 12.5 mug/kg for females). By introducing a metabolic stability index and emphasizing biological sex as a critical variable, these findings provide essential safety and dosage thresholds for the future development of metabolically active trace-element compounds.
Perspectives
As a researcher, I believe this study highlights a crucial factor often overlooked in pharmacological research: the combination of sex-specific physiological traits and precise dosing when evaluating metal-based metabolic modulators. Our findings encourage a shift toward personalized, sex-aware approaches in evaluating early, subclinical responses to potential therapeutic compounds.
Dr Iryna Oliynyk
Lviv Medical University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Lactate dehydrogenase activity and carbohydrate metabolism under vanadium citrate exposure: Sex- and dose-dependent effects in rat tissues, PLOS One, October 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0357938.
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Fig 3. Effects of vanadium citrate on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in different tissues of male and female Wistar rats
Panels showspecific LDH activity (μmol/(min × mg of protein)) in tissues. Animals were divided into four groups: I – control, II – 3 μg/kg body weight, III – 12.5 μg/kgbody weight, IV – 50 μg/kg body weight vanadium citrate. Values are presented as mean ± 95% confidence interval (CI), n = 6. Asterisks indicate statisti-cally significant differences compared to the corresponding control group: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and **** p < 0.0001 (PDF) Lactate dehydrogenase activity and carbohydrate metabolism under vanadium citrate exposure: Sex- and dose-dependent effects in rat tissues.
Fig 6. Radar plots of the stability index (SI) across different tissues in male and female Wistar rats under various vanadium citrate dosages.
These results are consistent with the radar plot analysis, which demonstrated more balanced tissue responses at these doses.
Fig 2. Body weight dynamics of male and female Wistar rats under the influence of different doses of vanadium citrate.
In the female group, on the 35th day of the experiment, body weight gain decreased by 10.68% (at a dose of 3 μgVCit/kg body weight) and by 13.59% (at a dose of 12.5 μgVCit/kg body weight) compared to the control group. In the male group, the inhibitory effect was more pronounced, body weight gain decreased by 19.27% (3 μgVCit/kg body weight) and by 28.4% (12.5 μgVCit/kg body weight) compared to the corresponding control. The administration of vanadium citrate, especially in high doses (50 μgVCit/kg body weight), led to a certain slowdown in weight gain compared to the control group by 30.1% in the female group and by 35.3% in the male group.
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