Direct measurement of polyol pathway activity in the ocular lens

A method to measure the polyol pathway metabolic flux in the intact rabbit lens by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is described. In the lens exposed to 35.5 mM glucose, the polyol pathway accounts for 1/3 of the total glucose turnover. The high metabolic activity of the pathway suggests a significant alteration in the reduced to oxidized pyridine nucleotide ratio in the lens exposed to high glucose.