BackgroundHyperglycemia leads to vascular damage in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) by endogenous production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). In addition, high intake of dietary AGEs may contribute to tissue damage, increased levels of inflammatory markers and it has been associated with alteration in lipids.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between dietary AGEs and the lipid profile in subjects with DM type 2 with or without complications.MethodsThis was an observational study in DM type 2 subjects with 3–20 years since diagnosis. Participants' clinical history and presence of DM associated complications were obtained from their health care provider as well as results of lipid profile (total cholesterol, LDL‐cholesterol, and triglycerides), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and height/weight. Dietary intake was recorded with seven days of food records, and AGEs intake with a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that measured last year intake. Diet records were entered into the nutrient analysis software, Food Processor, for caloric and macronutrients, and AGEs intake calculated from published AGEs databases. Descriptive statistics, t‐student test for differences between groups, and spearman correlation used, in addition linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between dietary AGEs and lipids levels.ResultsThirty‐eight volunteers were recruited, but 3 participants were withdrawn because uncompleted questionnaires. The 35 subjects (63% women) had a mean age of 59.0±10.6 years, 9.0±5.4 years since diagnosis, and 54.3% (n=19) reported cardiovascular complications and/or neuropathy and 45.7% (n=16) reported no complications. Body mass index was 36.6±9.0 Kg/m2; lipid levels were 172.1±95.2 mg/dL for triglycerides; 94.5±43.1 mg/dL for LDL‐cholesterol and 172.8±52.3 mg/dL for cholesterol; HbA1c values were 7.5±1.3%. Dietary intake was 1992±529 Kcal, 205±62 g of carbohydrates, 93±30 g of proteins, 91±31 g of fat, 30±12 g of saturated fat, and for dietary AGEs 18183±8365 KUAGE. There were no differences for metabolic or dietary variables between the group with complications and those without complications. A positive correlation between AGEs and cholesterol (r=0.38 p=0.024) and triglycerides (r=0.47 p=0.004) were found; to further explore this relation, a multiple linear regression found that triglycerides were associated with dietary AGEs and remained significant after adjusting for caloric intake, gender and complications presence (F=3.7, p<0.014, R2=0.33). No association was found with any other dietary variable.ConclusionThis study shows a significant association between dietary AGEs intake and triglycerides levels independent of diabetes‐related cardiovascular or neuropathy complications.Support or Funding InformationFunded through CONACYT; PRODEP (UGTO‐PTC‐448); Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign.