Internal medicine
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Diabetic patients with severe autonomic nervous disorder show delayed gastric emptying accompanied by diabetic gastroparesis, which decreases the electric activity of the stomach associated with gastric motility. It is reported that epalrestat, an aldose reductase inhibitor, is useful for treating diabetic neuropathy. Therefore, we evaluated whether this drug improves the decreased gastric motility in diabetic patients. ⋯ Since gastroparesis is a form of diabetic dysautonomia, complication by gastroparesis may influence blood sugar control and the absorbance of oral antidiabetics. Epalrestat significantly increased the amplitude of 3 cpm waves on EGG and improved the spectral analytical parameters of heart rate variability. These findings suggest that epalrestat is useful for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis.