Abstract
Purpose: :
Diabetes mellitus is characterized by the development of cataracts which generally occurs within 1 year of the time of diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the topical administration of the aldose reductase inhibitor KinostatTM can ameliorate the onset or progression of cataracts in naturally occurring diabetic dogs.
Methods: :
Forty newly diagnosed diabetic dogs with minimal lens changes were enrolled in a prospective, masked pilot study. Dogs were randomly assigned a coded vial containing either KinostatTM or vehicle (placebo), with the contents of the vial (drug or placebo) masked from the examiner. Twenty-eight dogs received KinostatTM, and 12 dogs received placebo. Owners were instructed to administer the agent OU TID for 1 year, and were instructed to record each time of administration in order to ensure compliance. Complete ophthalmic examinations were performed prior to enrolling in the study, and then at 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and approximately 4-6 month intervals thereafter.
Results: :
Cataract formation and progression were observed in 10/12 (83%) of the dogs receiving placebo. In contrast, after 12 months cataract formation in the KinostatTM group was significantly (p = 0.0016) inhibited with 15/28 (53.6%) of dogs receiving KinostatTM not showing evidence of cataract development. Of the 20 KinostatTM treated dogs remaining on study at time periods ranging from 14 to 22 months, 13 have no lens changes, 6 have cortical vacuoles and 1 has a cortical opacity. This is significantly different (p = 0.0001) from the 7 remaining placebo dogs where only 1 has no lens changes.
Conclusions: :
Topical KinostatTM is beneficial for up to 2.5 years in reducing the onset and/or progression of cataracts in dogs with diabetes mellitus.
Keywords: cataract • drug toxicity/drug effects