Vanadium

Vanadium in the environment
Vanadium is a naturally occurring substance and is therefore everywhere, but often the metal is hard ground in the soil's mineral or on the particle surfaces. In some environments, e.g.where the pH is high high or vanadium levels are unusually high, vanadium can, however, be relatively easily soluble in water and thus absorbable in organisms.

It is also known that vanadium can be used in medicine to treat diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Therefore, it is justified to consider vanadium as "a substance of pharmacological and nutritional importance" for man (Mukherjee et al., 2004). The main research interest has been devoted to the insulin-like properties of vanadium and its possibilities to relieve symptoms in diabetes (French & Jones, 1993). Vanadium thus decreases the blood sugar level and, in addition, the blood glucose lowering effect persists at least 3 months after discontinuation of treatment. Vanadin, however, does not replace insulin but seems to activate cellular insulin receptors (French & Jones, 1993).

At present, it is not entirely clear whether vanadium (V) is a necessity (essential) element. However, it is known that vanadium in low doses has been shown to have a number of positive effects on plants and animals.

The essential importance of vanadium for higher organisms such as mammals including Human is today uncertain. This is mainly due to the fact that no one has been shown vanadium deficiency symptoms in humans. However, results based on animal experiments indicate that probably the case (Nielsen & Uthus, 1990; French & Jones, 1993).

A compound to be used to fight cancer should have the following selective effects on malignant cells:
• It will reduce cell growth
• It should have a cytotoxic and / or cytostatic effect
• It should reduce and / or inhibit the ability of the cells to expand or to form metastases
• It should reduce or lack the potential to develop cell resistance.
Vanadium compounds possess all of these properties, either together or independently (Evangelou, 2002). Vanadinite appears, for example, reduce the appearance of metastases by controlling adhesion between cells and substrates or between cells and cells (Evangelou, 2002).

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