Advanced Glycation End Products Measured by Age Reader in a Group of Patients with Obesity

Background and Aim: Skin autofluorescence (AF) is a method used to detect the accumulation of Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) in skin collagen using AGE Reader. AGEs accumulation is favorised by chronic hyperglycemia and oxidative stress and these products may contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Materials and Methods. The inclusion criteria for the study were: patients with Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥30kg/m2. We excluded from the study patients of black color, because of the principle of fluorescence of AGE Reader, and also patients with diabetes. Patients underwent Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) with 75g of glucose: fasting plasma glucose (FPG), two hours post glucose load, and HbA1c blood samples were analysed. Finnish diabetes risk score for predicting the incidence of diabetes (FINDRISK score) was calculated. Results. BMI had a negative correlation with AF (p<0.005), but Abdominal Circumference (AC) was not correlated with AF (p=0.065). No correlations were found between BMI and FPG, or blood sugar level two hour post glucose load. Glucose level at two hours post glucose load did not correlate with the AF. Conclusion. Our results do not confirm the theoretical assumption according to which AC and BMI, as markers of insulin resistance and metabolic disorders, are associated with the increase in AGEs, or the assumption that postprandial blood glucose levels would have a more important role in the development of chronic complications that AGEs could be pathogenic link. AF is not influenced by short-term variations in blood glucose such as blood sugar level at two hours post glucose load, but it is influenced by FPG and prolonged term variation in blood glucose as HbA1c.