Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a major complication of diabetes, affecting one in three people with diabetes. The presence of peripheral neuropathy increases their risks of developing foot ulceration and subsequent necrosis that results in lower limb amputation. Good diabetes control helps to lower the risk of diabetic complications, which can be accelerated by advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) or alcohol consumption. AGEs are heterogeneous group of molecules, that normally accumulate slowly and in healthy people with natural ageing. Higher AGEs levels were associated with metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes-related complications such as DN. Alcohol consumption by persons with diabetes can worsen glucose control and diabetes-related medical complications, such as disturbances in fat metabolism or nerve damage. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between AGEs levels, patients’ alcohol consumption and the presence of DN.

Materials and methods: AGEs concentration in the skin was non-invasively measured using ultra-violet light to excite autofluorescence with AGE Reader in 151 patients (age 18-85): no DN (78), with DN (73). Data on patients’ clinical characteristics were collected from medical records and used to investigate associations between the presence of DN and the patients’ AGEs concentration and alcohol consumption.

Results: The median diabetes duration was 14 years, age – 55 years. The study cohort consisted of 83 (55.0%) women and 68 (45.0%) men. The presence of DN significantly depended on alcohol consumption (r_cramer’s=0.232, P<0.01). Patients who consume alcohol are more likely to have complications of DN than patients who do not consume alcohol (P<0.01). There were no significant associations between AGEs concentration and alcohol consumption (P=0.232) and the presence of DN complication (P=0.575). However, there was a positive correlation between AGEs concentration and age (r=0.474, P<0.001), BMI (r=0.161, P<0.05), duration of diabetes (r=0.293, P<0.001). The odds of developing DN is 2.57 (CI 1.33 – 4.96) times greater for people, who consume alcohol (P<0.01).

Conclusions: Patients consuming alcohol were more likely to have a DN complication. Alcohol consumption did not have any influence on the levels of AGEs.

Funding: The work was supported by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 ‘The Baltic Research Programme’.