Review

The clinical relevance of assessing advanced glycation endproducts accumulation in diabetes

Robbert Meerwaldt¹ , Thera Links² , Clark Zeebregts³ , Rene Tio⁴ , Jan-Luuk Hillebrands⁵ and Andries Smit⁶

¹  Department of Surgery, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, The Netherlands

²  Department of Endocrinology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

³  Department of Vascular Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

⁴  Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

⁵  Department of Cell Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

⁶  Department of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

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Cardiovascular Diabetology 2008, 7:29doi:10.1186/1475-2840-7-29

Published:	7 October 2008

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes. There is increasing evidence that advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) play a pivotal role in atherosclerosis, in particular in diabetes. AGE accumulation is a measure of cumulative metabolic and oxidative stress, and may so represent the "metabolic memory". Furthermore, increased AGE accumulation is closely related to the development of cardiovascular complications in diabetes. This review article will focus on the clinical relevance of measuring AGE accumulation in diabetic patients by focusing on AGE formation, AGEs as predictors of long-term complications, and interventions against AGEs.