Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Diabetes-induced prolonged elevated plasma glucose levels result in the formation and accumulation of complex and heterogeneous groups of compounds - advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). AGEs normally accumulate slowly, but this process occurs at a faster rate in patients with conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Accumulation of AGEs increases oxidative stress and induces an inflammatory reaction, which has a significant influence on the exacerbation of diabetic vascular complications. One of the most common complications resulting from uncontrolled diabetes is diabetic retinopathy (DR). However, it is necessary to clarify the role of AGEs in the pathology of DR to improve the quality of life for diabetic patients.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between AGEs levels and DR progression.

Materials and Methods: 120 patients (age ≥18) with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), were enrolled. Patients were divided into 3 groups: no diabetic retinopathy (n=50), non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n=49), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n=11). AGEs levels in the skin were non-invasively measured with AGE Reader (Diagnoptics B.V., The Netherlands). Data on patients’ clinical characteristics were collected from medical records.

Results: The median diabetes duration of the patients was 14.5 years, age – 55 years. The study cohort consisted of 64 (58.2%) women and 46 (41.8%) men. Patients with a longer duration of diabetes had more severe form of diabetic retinopathy (P<0.001). Age and HbA1c were comparable in groups with different severity of diabetic retinopathy (P=0.320 and P=0.094, respectively). However, the concentration of AGEs was higher in the group of patients with proliferative DR than in patients with non-proliferative DR and patients without DR (P<0.05). HbA1c levels were not related to AGEs concentration (P=0.354). AGEs levels increased with age (r=0.420, P<0.001) and duration of diabetes (r=0.331, P<0.001).

Conclusions: AGEs levels in the skin increase with progression of DR. These results support the evidence that AGEs have an important role as a prognostic biomarker for vascular risk assessment.

Acknowledgments: The work was supported by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 “The Baltic Research Programme”. No.:EEA-RESEARCH-60.