Aldose reductase (AR), an enzyme mediating the first step in the polyol pathway of glucose metabolism, is associated with complications of diabetes mellitus and increased cardiac ischemic injury.
Aldose reductase (AR) inhibitors play a vital importance as a potential therapeutic and preventive medicine when it comes to hyperglycemia associated diabetic complications.
Aldose reductase (ALR2) has been the target of therapeutic intervention for over 40 years; first, for its role in long-term diabetic complications and more recently as a key mediator in inflammation and cancer.
Aldose reductase (AR) is an enzyme devoted to cell detoxification and at the same time is strongly involved in the aetiology of secondary diabetic complications and the amplification of inflammatory phenomena.
Aldose reductase (AR), a member of aldo-keto reductase family, is the rate-limiting enzyme in the polyol pathway, and is known to play a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications.
As part of our ongoing search for natural sources of therapeutic and preventive agents for diabetic complications, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of components of the fruit of Xanthium strumarium (X. strumarium) on aldose reductase (AR) and galactitol formation in rat lenses with high levels of glucose.
Discovery of 3-[(4,5,7-trifluorobenzothiazol-2-yl)methyl]indole-N-acetic acid (lidorestat) and congeners as highly potent and selective inhibitors of aldose reductase for treatment of chronic diabetic complications.
Functional compounds with antioxidant and AR inhibitory activities have been recognized as an important strategy in the prevention and treatment of diabetic complications, and the search for tyrosinase inhibitors is important for the treatment of hyperpigmentation, development of skin-whitening agents, and use as preservatives in the food industry.
Glucose over-utilization through the polyol pathway has been linked to tissue-based pathologies associated with diabetes complications, which make the development of a potent aldose reductase inhibitor an obvious and attractive strategy to prevent or delay the onset and progression of the complications.
Humans exhibit three members of the AKR1B subfamily: AKR1B1 (aldose reductase, participates in diabetes complications), AKR1B10 (overexpressed in several cancer types), and the recently described AKR1B15.
Investigation of the cause of BmAR downregulation in the q-l<sup>p</sup> mutant could contribute to revealing the function of AR in insects and offers a new method of identifying AR inhibitors for the treatment of diabetic complications.
Key findings are that (a) low doses of Nasonia venom elevate sorbitol levels in human renal mesangial cells (HRMCs) without changing glucose or fructose levels; (b) venom is a much more potent inducer of sorbitol elevation than glucose; (c) low venom doses significantly alter expression of genes involved in sterol and alcohol metabolism, transcriptional regulation, and chemical/stimulus response; (d) although venom treatment does not alter expression of the key sorbitol pathway gene aldose reductase (AR); (e) venom elevates expression of a related gene implicated in diabetes complications (AKR1C3) as well as the fructose metabolic gene (GFPT2).
One of the alleles (Z-2) was found to be associated with early onset of retinopathy in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes (P = 0.007), suggesting that aldose reductase or a gene in the close vicinity may be involved in the pathogenesis of this diabetic complication.