Fidarestat Improved Symptoms of Diabetic Polyneuropathy

P atients in an open-label study had improvement in vibration detection threshold (VDT) as well as in their symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy with fidarestat.1 The aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI) was tested in 22 type 2 diabetic patients, aged ≥20 years, with polyneuropathy and stable blood glucose control (mean HbA1c 7.2%). Patients had not used another ARI ≤3 months before baseline. For 28 weeks, patients took 1mg of fidarestat, an investigational drug, daily before breakfast. Lead investigator Nigishi Hotta, MD, and colleagues were able to confirm results from previous studies that suggest that fidarestat (SNK-860, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho, Nagoya, Japan) is an effective treatment for diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Previously, Dr. Hotta studied the effects of fidarestat in 279 type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients with neuropathy during a double-blind placebo controlled study.2 Patients in the previous study were treated with the same dose of the ARI as in the current study, however the duration of the trial was 52 weeks. Investigators concluded that fidarestat altered the progression of diabetic neuropathy and positively affected subjective symptoms.