Processing Contaminants: Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs)

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a large and heterogeneous group of compounds that form through different nonenzymatic pathways. They are biologically important because they have significant prooxidant and proinflammatory properties. AGEs form in the body at a constant physiologic rate, which is markedly increased in the presence of hyperglycemia or increased oxidative stress (OS). Food is a major source of AGEs and high heat markedly increases AGE formation. It has recently become apparent that these exogenous AGEs are important contributors to the body AGE pool and they have the same biologic actions as their endogenous counterparts. Food-derived AGEs have been shown to be associated with the development of insulin resistance, diabetes, renal disease, and atherosclerosis in mice. Emerging data from several clinical trials suggest the important role of the high intake of exogenous AGEs in generating an increased OS and inflammatory state, which over time may lead to the pathogenesis of chronic human disease. More importantly, these trials also show that reducing the dietary AGE content by simple modifications in culinary techniques is a safe and easily applicable intervention that decreases the high OS characteristic of most chronic diseases, thereby opening a significant potential therapeutic intervention to prevent or treat these chronic conditions.