Skin Autofluorescence a Non-Invasive Biomarker of Ages and Its Association to Metabolic Parameters in a Greek Diabetic Population

Abstract

Objectives This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the association between advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) accumulation, assessed by skin autofluorescence (SAF) measured using the AGE Reader, and the prevalence of several metabolic variables in a diabetic population. Methods The measurement of SAF has become a non-invasive method of assessing the accumulation of AGEs as a marker of the long-term impact of glycemic and oxidative stress in humans. In contrast to blood glucose and to hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), which reflect a short period of glucose levels, the AGE is a marker of the metabolic legacy effect and reflect a long period of glucose levels. AGEs play a pivotal role in the development and progression of diabetic complications. SAF has been validated as a simple, non-invasive method for assessment of AGEs accumulation in the body. Results In this study 100 diabetic patients were participated. We non-invasively measured SAF, in all the participants using the AGE Reader (DiagnOptics Technologies BV, Groningen, The Netherlands). We also measured the body mass index (BMI), the blood pressure and the patients underwent arterial duplex sonogram (Doppler examination) in the legs at the level of the ankle and calculated the ankle-branchial index (ABI), which is an important index for diagnosing peripheral artery disease, which is a severe complication of diabetes. The SAF was positive correlated with age, duration of diabetes and systolic blood pressure (BP) and was negative correlated with ABI. Conclusion The measurement of SAF has become a non-invasive and reliable method of assessing the accumulation of AGEs in humans. In contrast to blood glucose and to HbA1c, which reflect a short period of glucose levels, the AGEs reflect a long period of glucose levels, correlate with certain metabolic parameters and with peripheral artery disease.