• aldose reductase
• aldoso reduttasi
• ARDIs
• complicanze del diabete
• diabete mellito
• diabetes mellitus
• diabetic complications
• differential inhibitors
• inhibitors
• inibitori
• inibitori differenziali

Aldose Reductase is a NADPH-dependent enzyme involved in the onset of diabetic complications; it catalyses the reduction of D-glucose into sorbitol, which will be then transformed into fructose by Sorbitol dehydrogenase, in the so-called polyol pathway. In diabetic patients, hyperglycaemic conditions cause an excessive flux of glucose through the polyol pathway and this leads to metabolic unbalances providing the basis for the onset of diabetic complications, such as nephropathies, retinopathies, peripheric neuropathies and cataract. AKR1B1 also catalyses the reduction of several toxic aldehydes generated from lipid peroxidation, transforming them into less reactive compounds, ultimately lowering their disrupting potential on cellular components; it seems then convenient to preserve this beneficial role of the enzyme. Thus, an overall block of the AKR1B1 activity through Aldose Reductase Inhibitors (ARIs) might not be the best strategy to prevent diabetic complications. An approach based on the so-called Aldose Reductase Differential Inhibitors (ARDIs) has recently been proposed: an ARDI should inhibit the reduction of glucose by AKR1B1, while having no (or limited) effect on AKR1B1’s activity towards toxic aldehydes. This work represents an attempt to isolate molecules acting as ARDIs from aqueous extracts of zolfino landrace (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), ultimately trying to determine their chemical nature. The fractionation of the extract through column chromatography techniques showed a region with highly reproducible evidences of differential inhibition. Further investigation is needed to characterise the molecular structure of the compound(s) acting as ARDIs.