Vanadium is a
metal present in air pollution. Its compounds may have both anticancer and carcinogenic properties.
Vanadium compounds are tested in treatment of diabetes and
cancer. An important research direction aimed at better understanding of the mechanisms of action of the
vanadium compounds is a more detailed insight into their impact on inflammatory reactions. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of micromolar concentrations of
sodium orthovanadate, Na3VO4, on the activity and expression of
cyclooxygenases: COX-1 and COX-2. PMA-activated THP-1 macrophages were incubated in vitro for 48 h with micromolar concentrations of
sodium orthovanadate. As shown by an ELISA assay,
sodium orthovanadate increases the quantity of
prostaglandin E2 being released into the medium in a dose-dependent manner as well as impacts the quantity of the stable metabolite of
thromboxane A2:
thromboxane B2. The use of a
COX-2 inhibitor,
NS-398, revealed that this effect was independent of changes in the activity of COX-2. Western blotting analysis showed that
sodium orthovanadate increased the expression of COX-2 when used with
NS-398. Quantitative real-time PCR measurements of
mRNA levels of genes PTGS1 and
PTGS2 revealed no effect of the tested
vanadium compound on the levels of analyzed transcripts.