Trends in advanced glycation end products research in diabetes mellitus and its complications

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are heterogeneous groups of compounds that result from the non-enzymatic reaction of reducing sugars with free amino groups of biological molecules such as proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. A large number of studies have been focused on AGEs metabolism, analysis, treatments, and their implications in the pathogenesis of diseases, especially in diabetes mellitus. Here, we review recent advances in the understanding of pathological complications caused by the production of AGEs. We provide an overview of the most important issues published within this area in last years; we also present the number of scientific papers related to AGEs available since 1950 until 2008 in the most important fields including metabolism, physiology, and pharmacology, thus as analytical methods for AGE detection and quantification and studies carried out in human body fluids. Data were collected from ovidSP.