EFFECTS OF DITAZOL ON THE VASCULAR RETINAL PATTERN IN EXPERIMENTAL DIABETES IN RATS

Platelets from diabetic patients are hypersensitive to aggregating agents. An imbalance in thromboxane/prostacyclin synthesis has been postulated as an antecedent to the development of diabetic retinopathy. We studied 3-month streptozo-tocin-diabetic rats (SDR) treated with 200 mg/kg/day p.o. of ditazol, an antiplatelet drug that inhibits thromboxane formation. Thromboxane B-2 (TxB(2)) production was higher and 6-keto-PGF(1 alpha) synthesis lower in SDR than nondiabetic rats (NDR). In treated animals, ditazol inhibited platelet aggregation by 66%, and TxB(2) production by 58%, and increased vascular 6-keto-PGF(1 alpha) by 45%. Furthermore, 13% of the retinal surface was covered by peroxidase-labelled vessels in NDR, 2.1% in nontreated SDR, and 8.9% in SDR treated with ditazol. We postulate that ditazol may prevent or reduce diabetic retinopathy.