Glycation and disease: a systematic review of the analytical methods and applications of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) as biomarkers of disease

Over a century since Louis Camille Maillard first described the reaction that bears his name, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) resulting from the advanced stage of the glycation reaction have been widely implicated in the onset and progression of various non-communicable diseases. Although a number of studies on the relationship of AGEs with various diseases have been published, none of them to date has comprehensively and critically assessed the quantification of specific AGEs alongside a description of the analytical methods employed and their clinical relevance as biomarkers. We here provide a review of 116 pertinent articles from the last 10 years and describe the analytical methods, the matrices investigated, and the findings related to specific glycation biomarkers in relation to diagnosis or prognosis of disease-in particular diabetes and its complications, but also cardiovascular and renal diseases, as well as other conditions. Significant trends from the last decade are the diversification of applications beyond diabetes and its complications, an increasing number of innovative, noninvasive approaches to quantifying glycation biomarkers which seek to facilitate large-scale screening and early intervention, and the emergence of approaches combining several markers into a suite of analytes for assessment using Z-scores or machine learning algorithms.