Are There Differences in Skin Autofluorescence-Measured Advanced Glycation End-Product Levels between Chronic Kidney Disease and Kidney Transplant Recipients?

Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the differences in the levels of advanced glycation end products (AGE) between patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) and to investigate the risk factors for the AGE levels in each group of these patients. There were 217 participants total, of which 99 (45.6%) were KTRs and 118 (54.4%) had CKD. Data on the levels of AGE, body mass composition, anthropometric parameters, central and peripheral blood pressure, and clinical and laboratory parameters were gathered for each study participant. The AGE values of the CKD and KTRs groups did not differ from one another. In both groups, a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate, male sex, and older age were positive predictors for increased AGE values. Furthermore, higher levels of AGE were linked to lower central systolic blood pressure (cSBP) in the CKD group, whilst, in the KTRs group, higher levels of AGE were linked to a shorter time since kidney transplantation (KTx), more years of dialysis prior to KTx, lower levels of trunk visceral fat, the presence of arterial hypertension, and the absence of prescriptions for the antihypertensive medications urapidil and angiotensin II receptor blockers. Further studies are needed to better understand the above associations. Consequently, a personalised multidisciplinary approach to assess the cardiovascular as well as dietary and lifestyle risk factors to reduce the AGE levels in both KTRs and CKD patients may be implemented.