The study addressed the role for aldose reductase (AR) in 1) retinal oxidative stress and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) overexpression in early diabetes, and 2) high glucose-induced oxidative stress in retinal endothelial cells. In vivo experiments were performed on control rats and diabetic rats treated with or without low or high dose of the AR inhibitor (ARI) fidarestat (2 or 16 mg ⅐ kg ؊1 ⅐ day ؊1 ). In vitro studies were performed on bovine retinal endothelial cells (BREC) cultured in either 5 or 30 mmol/l glucose with or without 1 mol/l fidarestat. Intracellular reactive oxygen species were assessed using the 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H 2 DCFDA) probe and flow cytometry. Both low and high doses of fidarestat (i.e., the doses that partially and completely inhibited sorbitol pathway hyperactivity) arrested diabetesinduced retinal lipid peroxidation. This was achieved due to upregulation of the key antioxidative defense enzyme activities rather than changes in reduced glutathione, oxidized glutathione, ascorbate and dehydroascorbate concentrations, and the glutathione and ascorbate redox states. Diabetes-associated 2.1-fold VEGF protein overexpression (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ELISA) was dose-dependently prevented by fidarestat, whereas total VEGF mRNA and VEGF-164 mRNA (RT-PCR) abundance were not affected by either diabetes or the ARI. In BREC, fidarestat corrected hyperglycemiainduced increase in H 2 DCFDA fluorescence but not oxidative stress caused by three different pro-oxidants in normoglycemic conditions. In conclusion, increased AR activity contributes to retinal oxidative stress and VEGF protein overexpression in early diabetes. The findings justify the rationale for evaluation of fidarestat on diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 52:864 -871, 2003

This paper examines nurses' international migration within the broader context of female migration, particularly against more studied groups of women who have migrated for employment in care-giving roles. We analyze the similarities and differences between skilled professional female migrants (nurses) and domestic workers (nannies and in-home caretakers) and how societal expectations, meanings, and values of care and 'women's work', together with myriad social, cultural, economic and political processes, construct the female migrant care-giver experience. We argue that, as the recruitment of foreign workers gains visibility, strategies are introduced to better prepare female migrant care-givers for the marketplace. Language, specifically command of English and accent modification, is highlighted as one means to assimilate migrant care-givers to host communities.