[The role of iron ions in regulating aldose reductase activity in the cerebral cortex and retina in health rats and rats with hereditary retinal degeneration].

Effects of ferric ions, native ferric chelator desferal and of microsomal membranes containing different amount of nonheme ferric on activity of aldose reductase were studied in the enzyme preparations isolated from brain cortex and sometimes from retina of healthy rats and of the animals with hereditary degeneration of retina. In the healthy animals activity of aldose reductase was distinctly increased in the presence of ferric ions and of microsomal membranes; desferal inhibited drastically the enzyme activity. At the same time, these agents did not affect the aldose reductase activity in the preparations isolated from the animals with hereditary degeneration of retina.