[Effect of sodium difluoroacetate on retinal lactate levels in diabetic rats].

Our experiments were carried out in normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats. The effects of sodium difluoroacetate (DFA) at the dose of 40 mg/kg daily were studied on the blood and retinal lactate levels; these effects were compared to those of an identical dose of sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) which is the most known among the pyruvate dehydrogenase activators. DFA and DCA were administered orally by oesophageal tube during 5 months. At these doses, neither DFA nor DCA significantly modified the blood and retinal lactate levels in the normal animals. The blood and retina lactate levels of the non treated diabetic rats were much higher than those of the normal rats; the treatment by DFA and DCA significantly decreased the blood and retina lactate levels in diabetic rats.