Abstract
Aims/hypothesis: Fidarestat, an aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), has been reported to improve clinical symptoms and nerve conduction deficits in human diabetic neuropathy. We evaluated the dose-dependency and some of the mechanisms of the drug action in experimental diabetic neuropathy (EDN). Methods: Control rats and rats with EDN were fed on normal pellets or pellets containing 0.00066% (1 mg/kg) or 0.00263% (4 mg/kg) fidarestat for 10 weeks. We evaluated the effect of fidarestat on nerve blood flow (NBF), electrophysiology, and sorbitol and fructose content in sciatic nerve in control and diabetic rats. For detection of oxidative stress in peripheral nerve, we measured sciatic nerve reduced glutathione (GSH) and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) immunolabelling of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Results: NBF, compound muscle action potential and amplitude of C-potential were significantly improved in diabetic rats fed on the diet supplemented with fidarestat. Fidarestat suppressed the increase in sorbitol and fructose, normalised GSH in sciatic nerve, and reduced the number of 8-OHdG-positive cells in DRG. Conclusions/interpretation: Fidarestat improves neuropathy, presumably via an improvement in oxidative stress. This study supports a role for fidarestat in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 3085-3093 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Diabetologia |
Volume | 49 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2006 |
Keywords
- 8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Dorsal root ganglion
- Fidarestat
- Fructose
- Glutathione
- Nerve blood flow
- Nitric monoxide
- Sciatic nerve
- Sorbitol
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Internal Medicine
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism