Low-dose vanadium pentoxide perturbed lung metabolism associated with inflammation and fibrosis signaling in male animal and in vitro models

Vanadium is available as a dietary supplement and also is known to be toxic if inhaled, yet little information is available concerning the effects of vanadium on mammalian metabolism when concentrations found in food and water. Vanadium pentoxide (V⁺⁵) is representative of the most common dietary and environmental exposures, and prior research shows that low-dose V⁺⁵ exposure causes oxidative stress measured by glutathione oxidation and protein S-glutathionylation. We examined the metabolic impact of V⁺⁵ at relevant dietary and environmental doses (0.01, 0.1, and 1 ppm for 24 h) in human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) and male C57BL/6J mice (0.02, 0.2, and 2 ppm in drinking water for 7 mo). Untargeted metabolomics using liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) showed that V⁺⁵ induced significant metabolic perturbations in both HLF cells and mouse lungs. We noted 30% of the significantly altered pathways in HLF cells, including pyrimidines and aminosugars, fatty acids, mitochondrial and redox pathways, showed similar dose-dependent patterns in mouse lung tissues. Alterations in lipid metabolism included leukotrienes and prostaglandins involved in inflammatory signaling, which have been associated with the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other disease processes. Elevated hydroxyproline levels and excessive collagen deposition were also present in lungs from V⁺⁵-treated mice. Taken together, these results show that oxidative stress from environmental V⁺⁵, ingested at low levels, could alter metabolism to contribute to common human lung diseases.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We used relevant dietary and environmental doses of Vanadium pentoxide (V⁺⁵) to examine its metabolic impact in vitro and in vivo. Using liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), we found significant metabolic perturbations, with similar dose-dependent patterns observed in human lung fibroblasts and male mouse lungs. Alterations in lipid metabolism included inflammatory signaling, elevated hydroxyproline levels, and excessive collagen deposition were present in V⁺⁵-treated lungs. Our findings suggest that low levels of V⁺⁵ could trigger pulmonary fibrotic signaling.