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There are evidences of environmental pollution and health effects. Metals are pollutants implicated in systemic toxicity. One of the least studied effects, but which is currently becoming more important, is the effect of metals on glycemic control. Metals have been implicated as causes of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress and are associated to obesity, hyperglycemia and even diabetes. Arsenic, iron, mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel have been studied as a risk factor for hyperglycemia and diabetes. There is another group of metals that causes hypoglycemia such as vanadium, chromium, zinc and magnesium by different mechanisms. Zinc, magnesium and chromium deficiency is associated with increased risk of diabetes. This review summarizes some metals involved in glycemic control and pretends to alert health professionals about considering environmental metals as an important factor that could explain the poor glycemic control in patients. Further studies are needed to understand this poorly assessed problem., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Vanadium (V) adhering to inhaled particles has been associated with male reproductive alterations. Intercellular junction proteins, such as connexin 43, constitute the blood-testes barrier. These proteins are crucial for the reconstitution of the barrier during spermatogenesis. Normally, connexins are located between cell membranes but in cells exposed to certain metals or which are transformed, their location is altered. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the inhalation of vanadium pentoxide on the distribution of connexin 43 in seminiferous tubules of mice. Immunohistochemical localization of connexin 43 demonstrated the redistribution of the protein that increased with time of exposure while intensity of stain on the membranes decreased. In previous studies, reduction in the actin and γ-tubulin stain intensity upon V inhalation has been observed. All these alterations may explain the reprotoxic effect associated with vanadium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports about vanadium (V) inhalation toxicity on the hematopoietic system, specifically about coagulation are limited. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the effects of V with a complete blood count and morphologic analysis of platelets on blood smears. CD-1 male mice inhaled V2O5 0.02 M 1 h twice weekly over 12 weeks. Blood samples were obtained by direct heart puncture; Wright stained smears were used for platelet quantification. An increase in platelet count from the third week of exposure was observed, as well as the presence of megaplatelets. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that V induces thrombocytosis and it might correlate with some thromboembolic diseases. Further analysis is needed to evaluate the functionality of these platelets as well as the cause of its increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]