Nonosmotic Diabetic Cataracts | Pediatric Research

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT: It has been suggested that sugar cataracts associated with diabetes mellitus result from the accumulation of excess sorbitol within lens fibrils. Swelling of lens fibrils

occurs when water moves in to maintain osmotic balance; the excess water causes disruption of fibrils and cataract formation. Other studies have indicated that more than sorbitol-induced

osmotic stress is involved. Our study used lenses collected from rats after 21 or 44 d of streptozotocin diabetes. Cataracts formed in untreated 44-d streptozotocin diabetic rats, but were

not apparent in the 21-d untreated diabetic animals. Lens sorbitol increased in the diabetic animals both before and after cataract formation. Lens taurine varied inversely with the sorbitol

content in a fashion that resulted in no net change in total lens osmoles. Lens water did not increase in the diabetic animals with or without cataracts. The aldose reductase inhibitor

Sorbinil prevented the increase in lens sorbitol in both the 21− and 44-d streptozotocin diabetic rats; cataract formation was prevented in the 44-d diabetic animals. The lens water in

untreated diabetic animals with cataracts did not differ from lens water in the Sorbinil-treated diabetic animals that did not develop cataracts. Sorbinil treatment of diabetic animals was

associated with normalization of both lens sorbitol and taurine levels. Taurine has been shown to serve both as an osmoregulator and as an antioxidant. The apparent increase in lens

osmolality attributed to sorbitol was counterbalanced by an equimolar reduction in taurine concentration. The reciprocal relationship between taurine and sorbitol reduces the likelihood of

an osmotic mechanism for sugar cataractogenesis; the reduced lens taurine, however, may increase the risk of lens protein oxidation and subsequent cataract formation. Thus _in vivo_ sugar

cataract formation may be an oxidative process rather than an osmotic phenomenon. SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS EXTRACELLULAR FLUID EXCESS LINKED TO REDUCED CHOROIDAL VASCULARITY

INDEX IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE Article Open access 04 June 2024 COMPARISON OF METHODS TO EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCE OPACIFICATION AND ELASTICITY CHANGE IN EX VIVO PORCINE LENSES

Article Open access 03 December 2021 THE EFFECT OF HYPOTENSIVE DRUGS ON INTRAOCULAR LENSES CLARITY Article 07 September 2022 ARTICLE PDF AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Pediatrics and Diabetes Center, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Tampa, 33612, Florida John I Malone, Saul Lowitt & William R Cook Authors * John I Malone

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Saul Lowitt View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

William R Cook View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE

Malone, J., Lowitt, S. & Cook, W. Nonosmotic Diabetic Cataracts. _Pediatr Res_ 27, 293–296 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199003000-00019 Download citation * Issue Date: 01

March 1990 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199003000-00019 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a

shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative