To investigate the relationship between polyol pathway hyperactivity and altered carnitine metabolism in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, the effects of an aldose reductase inhibitor, [5-(3-thienyl) tetrazol-1-yl]acetic acid (TAT), and a carnitine analog, acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), on neural functions and biochemistry and hemodynamic factors were compared in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Significantly delayed motor nerve conduction velocity, decreased R-R interval variation, reduced sciatic nerve blood flow and decreased erythrocyte 2, 3-diphosphoglycerate concentrations in diabetic rats were all ameliorated by treatment with TAT (administered with rat chow containing 0.05% TAT, approximately 50 mg/kg/day) or ALC (by gavage, 300 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. Platelet hyperaggregation activity in diabetic rats was diminished by TAT but not by ALC. TAT decreased sorbitol accumulation and prevented not only myo-inositol depletion but also free-carnitine deficiency in diabetic nerves. On the other hand, ALC also increased the myo-inositol as well as the free-carnitine content without affecting the sorbitol content. These observations suggest that there is a close relationship between increased polyol pathway activity and carnitine deficiency in the development of diabetic neuropathy and that an aldose reductase inhibitor, TAT, and a carnitine analog, ALC, have therapeutic potential for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.
Polyol pathway hyperactivity is closely related to carnitine deficiency in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy of streptozotocin-diabetic rats.
Jiro Nakamura,Naoki Koh,F. Sakakibara,Yoji Hamada,T. Hara,H. Sasaki,S. Chaya,Taku Komori,E. Nakashima,Keiko Naruse,Koichi Kato,N. Takeuchi,Y. Kasuya,N. Hotta
Published 1998 in Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
1998
- Venue
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- Publication date
1998-12-01
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine, Chemistry
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
- No claims are published for this paper.
CONCEPTS
- No concepts are published for this paper.
REFERENCES
Showing 1-39 of 39 references · Page 1 of 1
CITED BY
Showing 1-56 of 56 citing papers · Page 1 of 1