AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 251, Issue 2 325-R332, Copyright © 1986 by American Physiological Society
Kinetic model of whole-body vanadium metabolism: studies in sheep
B. W. Patterson, S. L. Hansard 2nd, C. B. Ammerman, P. R. Henry, L. A. Zech and W. R. Fisher
A compartmental model for vanadium metabolism in sheep has been proposed.
The model is consistent with data obtained from sheep fed a control diet
(2.6 ppm vanadium) containing 0 or 200 ppm supplemental vanadium. Sheep
were administered 48V dioxovanadium either orally or intravenously. Blood,
feces, and urine radioactivity were monitored for 6 days postdosing.
Several new insights regarding vanadium metabolism are suggested and tested
against the data using the model. Some of these include significant
absorption of 48V occurs from the upper gastrointestinal tract; an in vivo
process is necessary in order for 48V dioxovanadium to be converted into a
more biologically reactive species; at steady state the upper and lower
gastrointestinal tracts contain at least 10- and 100-fold more mass of
vanadium, respectively, than does blood. No statistically significant
differences in transport rate constants were found between animals
receiving 0 and 200 ppm supplemental dietary vanadium. The availability of
a model will enable the refinement of future studies regarding vanadium
metabolism in the ruminant.
