Effects of fidarestat, an aldose reductase inhibitor, on nerve conduction velocity and bladder function in streptozotocin-treated female rats

The effects of fidarestat, an aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), were assessed on nerve conduction velocity (NCV) in somatic nerves and on multiple measures of bladder function in rats made hyperglycemic with streptozotocin (STZ) and in age-matched controls. Nerve conduction velocity was recorded at baseline and at 10, 20, 30, and 50 days after confirmation of the STZ-induced hyperglycemia in all rats (N=47); bladder function was assessed in a representative subset of rats (N=20) at Day 50. Caudal NCV was markedly slowed by STZ, and this effect was significantly reversed by fidarestat. The initial deficit and treatment-related improvement were especially evident for responses driven by high-frequency repetitive stimulation. Of the 11 parameters of bladder activity assessed, four measures—bladder capacity, micturition volume, micturition frequency, and bladder weight—were significantly different in the control and STZ-treated groups. These deficits were not affected by fidarestat. At Day 50, the induced deficits in bladder function were highly correlated with caudal NCV (r values ranging from 0.70 to 0.96; P values ranging from .02 to <.0001). These results suggested that fidarestat improved the slowing of somatic nerve NCV in hyperglycemic rats, but it was not effective in reversing associated bladder dysfunction, in spite of the highly significant correlation between these two diabetes-induced deficits. Possible explanations for this dissociation are discussed.