Citation: Sharfalddin, A.A.; Al-Younis, I.M.; Mohammed, H.H.; Dhahri, M.; Mouffouk, F.; Abu Ali, H.; Anwar, M.J.; Qureshi, K.A.; Hussien, M.A.; Alghrably, M.; et al. Therapeutic Properties of Vanadium Complexes. Inorganics 2022, 10, 244. https://doi.org/10.3390/ inorganics10120244 Academic Editor: Isabel Correia Received: 29 August 2022 Accepted: 16 November 2022 Published: 6 December 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). inorganics Review Therapeutic Properties of Vanadium Complexes Abeer A. Sharfalddin 1, * , Inas M. Al-Younis 2 , Hamdoon H. Mohammed 3,4 , Manel Dhahri 5 , Fouzi Mouffouk 6 , Hijazi Abu Ali 7 , Md. Jamir Anwar 8 , Kamal A. Qureshi 9 , Mostafa A. Hussien 1,10 , Mawadda Alghrably 11 , Mariusz Jaremko 11 , Noura Alasmael 12 , Joanna Izabela Lachowicz 13 and Abdul-Hamid Emwas 2, * 1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia 2 Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia 4 Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11751, Egypt 5 Biology Department, Faculty of Science Yanbu, Taibah University, Yanbu 46423, Saudi Arabia 6 Department of Chemistry, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Kuwait City 13060, Kuwait 7 Department Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Birzeit University, Birzeit P.O. Box 14, Palestine 8 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Unaizah 51911, Saudi Arabia 9 Department of Pharmaceutics, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Unaizah 51911, Saudi Arabia 10 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said 42521, Egypt 11 Smart-Health Initiative (SHI), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Jeddah 23955, Saudi Arabia 12 Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia 13 Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Università di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato, Italy * Correspondence: sharfalddin.aa@gmail.com (A.A.S.); abdelhamid.emwas@kaust.edu.sa (A.-H.E.); Tel.: +966-2-8084313 or +966-544700331 (A.-H.E.) Abstract: Vanadium is a hard, silver-grey transition metal found in at least 60 minerals and fossil fuel deposits. Its oxide and other vanadium salts are toxic to humans, but the toxic effects depend on the vanadium form, dose, exposure duration, and route of intoxication. Vanadium is used by some life forms as an active center in enzymes, such as the vanadium bromoperoxidase of ocean algae and nitrogenases of bacteria. The structure and biochemistry of vanadate resemble those of phosphate, hence vanadate can be regarded as a phosphate competitor in a variety of biochemical enzymes such as kinases and phosphatases. In this review, we describe the biochemical pathways regulated by vanadium compounds and their potential therapeutic benefits for a range of disorders including type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and microbial pathology. Keywords: vanadium complexes; anticancer; insulin; antimicrobial; osteogenic effect; cardiovascular system; COVID-19 1. Introduction Vanadium was first discovered by the Mexican mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Rio in 1801 from a specimen of vanadinite, Pb 5 (VO 4 ) 3 Cl. The element is named after ‘Vanadis’, the old Norse name for the Scandinavian goddess Freyja representing youth and beauty [1]. However, vanadium was erroneously identified as a chromium mineral until 1831, when the Swedish chemist Nil Gabriel Selfström was investigating steel brittleness in Taberg, Småland, Sweden [2,3]. Vanadium’s importance in biological systems has long Inorganics 2022, 10, 244. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics10120244 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/inorganics