A new drug in development looks like a promising treatment for the diabetic nerve damage that causes pain or numbness or tingling in the legs or arms, according to a report in the journal Diabetes Care.

The drug, epalrestat, delays progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and ameliorates its symptoms, according to a report in the journal Diabetes Care. Epalrestat is an aldose reductase inhibitor, a class of compounds that suppress a pathway thought to be involved in diabetic neuropathy.

Dr. Nigishi Hotta from Chubu Rosai Hospital, Nagoya, Japan studied the effectiveness and long-term safety of epalrestat in a three-year trial involving nearly 600 patients with mild diabetic neuropathy who were randomly assigned to the drug or to a placebo.

While the epalrestat group showed no significant deterioration in nerve conduction velocity or vibration perception threshold, the placebo group experienced significant deterioration in both measures, the researchers reported.

The epalrestat group, at the end of the three-year trial, had significantly less numbness of the upper and lower extremities, hypersensitivity, and cramping thanthe control group, though there were no significant differences in extremity pain, the researchers reported.

The researchers said benefits of long-term treatment with epalrestat are particularly evident in patients with good blood sugar control