Abstract
The effect of high concentrations of glucose on Na, K-ATPase activity and the polyol pathway was studied using cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. Na, K-ATPase activity was expressed as ouabain-sensitive K+ uptake. A significant decrease in Na, K-ATPase activity with an intracellular accumulation of sorbitol was found in confluent endothelial cells incubated with 400mg/dl glucose for 96h. However, there was no significant change in the Na, K-ATPase activity or sorbitol content of the cells incubated with 100mg/dl glucose plus 300mg/dl mannitol. The decrease in Na, K-ATPase induced by the high glucose concentration was restored by the simultaneous addition of 10-4M ponalrestat (ICI 128, 436; Statil), an aldose reductase inhibitor. The addition of this agent also significantly reduced the increase in sorbitol induced by high glucose levels. These results suggest that the decrease in Na, K-ATPase activity induced in cultured aortic endothelial cells by high concentrations of glucose may be caused in part by the accumulation of sorbitol.
