Abstract
In previous experimental studies we have found 47 % incidence of congenital cataracts among the fetuses of manifestly diabetic (MD) rats, and 4 % in the offspring of normal (N) rats. The aim of the study was to clarify the role of the sorbitol shunt in the pathogenesis of this congenital defect. Light microscopical evaluation of the lenses of day 16-22 fetuses revealed excessive formation of vacuoles in offspring of MD rats compared to N offspring at all time points. On gestational day 16 we found a doubled aldose reductase (AR) activity in the fetuses of MD rats compared to the N fetuses. This difference as well as the net activity of AR decreased in both groups during subsequent development. The sorbitol concentration was increased more than tenfold in the MD fetal lenses compared to N fetal lenses at all time points. The sorbitol concentration in both the MD and the N group decreased from day 16 to day 20 and increased again slightly on day 22.
We conclude that the diabetic uterine milieu induces AR activity and sorbitol formation in the lens. This over-activity of the sorbitol shunt may produce metabolic and osmotic imbalance in the fetal lens, resulting in excessive vacuole formation and subsequent development of congenital cataract.
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Simán, M., Naeser, P. & Eriksson, U. INDUCTION OF CONGENITAL CATARACT IN THE OFFSPRING OF DIABETIC RATS. Pediatr Res 32, 628 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00140