Peripheral neuropathy is the most prevalent chronic complication of
diabetes mellitus. Good
glycemic control can delay the appearance of neuropathic symptoms in diabetic patients but it is not sufficient to prevent or cure the disease. Therefore therapeutic approaches should focus on attenuation of pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the nerve injury. Considering the role of
polyol pathway in the etiology of
diabetic neuropathy, we evaluated the effect of a novel efficient and selective
aldose reductase inhibitor, 3-mercapto-5H-1,2,4-triazino[5,6-b]
indole-5-
acetic acid (
cemtirestat), on symptoms of diabetic
peripheral neuropathy in Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats. Since the age of 5 months, male ZDF rats were orally administered
cemtirestat, 2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg/day, for two following months. Thermal hypoalgesia was evaluated by tail flick and hot plate tests.
Tactile allodynia was determined by a von Frey flexible filament test. Two-month treatment of ZDF rats with
cemtirestat (i) did not affect physical and glycemic status of the animals; (ii) partially inhibited
sorbitol accumulation in red blood cells and the sciatic nerve; (iii) markedly decreased plasma levels of
thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; (iv) normalized symptoms of
peripheral neuropathy with high significance. The presented findings indicate that inhibition of
aldose reductase by
cemtirestat is not solely responsible for the recorded improvement of the behavioral responses. In future studies, potential effects of
cemtirestat on consequences of diabetes that are not exclusively dependent on
glucose metabolism via
polyol pathway should be taken into consideration.