[Aldose-reductase inhibitors and cataract formation (author's transl)].

Flavonoids are known as potent inhibitors of aldose reductase, an enzyme that may initiate cataract formation in diabetes. We have tested the inhibitory activity of new flavone derivatives on a homogenate of lens epithelium. Compounds which inhibited the enzyme activity by more than 50 percent at 10(-60) M were then tested on rat lenses perfused in a 0.027 M glucose solution. Our preliminary studies indicate that these new flavone derivatives can prevent or delay the formation of cataract in an in-vitro model.