The effect of an aldose reductase inhibitor on cardiovascular performance in patients with diabetes mellitus

Abstract Because some aldose reductase inhibitor studies have demonstrated clinical improvement in scored neurological signs and symptoms of diabetic neuropathy, a prospective study of the effect on cardiovascular performance of sorbinil 250 mg/day for 12 months was conducted on patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy who were free of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and/or cardiomyopathy. After 1 year of treatment, the study group ( n = 14) demonstrated significant improvement in both the resting cardiac output ( P = 0.02), and the maximal cardiac output ( P = 0.03). This observation suggests that the use of an aldose reductase inhibitor may be useful in treating suboptimal cardiovascular performance in patients with diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy.