Streptozotocin-diabetic rats were maintained on a stock diet for 16 weeks and some were given conduritol A (10 mg/kg/day). The administration of conduritol A, having a hypoglycemic effect, markedly prevented the diabetic rats from getting cataracts. In practice, conduritol A inhibited aldose reductase (EC 1.1.1.21) that is capable of catalyzing the conversion of aldoses to sugar alcohols in the polyol pathway. In anin vitroassay, lens aldose reductase was most effectively inhibited by conduritol A whenα,β-d-glucose was used as a substrate. Some enzymes from the rats were not inhibited by conduritol A. Neither an intraperitoneal injection nor oral dosage of conduritol A caused acute toxicity in the rats. These findings suggest that the inhibition of lens aldose reductase by conduritol A may be responsible for its cataract-suppressing effect.