Influence of bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) on activity of galactosyltransferase (GalT) and morphology of rat liver Golgi apparatus in control and streptozotocin diabetes.

The relation between bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) (BMOV) influencing the biochemical activity of rat liver Golgi apparatus and the morphology of this organelle was studied in normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rat livers. Ultrastructural examinations revealed marked differences in the morphology of Golgi apparatus in three groups of animals. In the control rats treated only with 0.5% NaCl we did not find any biochemical and morphological changes. Marked changes were found in the rat liver after 1.8 mmol BMOV in 0.5% NaCl (as drinking solution) applied for 7 days, so-called "control" group for vanadium. In this group Golgi apparatus seemed shorter than in the diabetic animals. Finally, the same treatment of rats with previously induced SZ-diabetes, showed relatively small morphological alterations. The ultrastructural observation was compatible with the activity of galactosyltransferase (GalT), the Golgi marker enzyme. In diabetic rats treated with BMOV the activity of this enzyme was almost the same as in controls. Summing up dramatic alterations, previously found in diabetic-untreated rats [22], normalized after orally applied BMOV solution, even after a short time.