Advanced Glycation End Products and Diabetes and Other Metabolic Indicators

Background: Diabetes is a global concern among adults. Previous studies have suggested an association between different screening methods and diabetes; however, increasing evidence has suggested the importance of early screening for diabetes mellitus (DM) and its influencing factors. In this study, we aimed to explore whether the non-invasive detection of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the early screening of DM in the Chinese community and whether body mass index (BMI) and metabolic indexes could moderate this relationship.

Methods: Three community health service centers in Hefei that signed the medical consortium agreement with the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were selected to screen the population aged 30-90 years in each community using a multi-stage cluster sampling method from January 2018 to January 2019. Univariate analysis of variance was used to compare the differences in general data, biochemical indexes, skin AGEs levels, and blood glucose among groups. In addition, a multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed.

Results: A total of 912 patients with a community health physical examination and no history of diabetes were selected, excluding those with missing values > 5%. Finally, 906 samples were included in the study with an effective rate of 99.3%. The prevalence in the normal, impaired glucose tolerance, and DM groups were 79.8%, 10.0%, and 10.2%, respectively. By dividing AGE by quartile, AGE accumulation was classified as ≤ P25, P25-P50, P50-P75, and > P75. Higher AGE accumulation (χ = 37.95), BMI (χ = 12.20), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (χ = 8.46), triglyceride (TG) (χ = 6.23), and older age (χ = 20.11) were more likely to have a higher prevalence of fasting blood glucose (FBG). The analyses revealed significant correlations between AGE accumulation, BMI, TG, total cholesterol (TC), and FBG (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: As the findings indicate, priority should be given to the quality of metabolic-related indicators, such as BMI, TG, and TC, employed to effectively reduce the FBG of Chinese participants with high AGE accumulation. Skin autofluorescence may prove to be a rapid and non-invasive method for assessing the metabolic progression of all glucose level layers.