Non-invasive early detection of (pre-)diabetes using Advanced Glycemic Endproduct detection

Supervisors

Martijn Dijkstra, Bernadette Fokkens, Andries Smit, Chao Pang, Joeri v/d Velde, Marc Jan Bonder, Patrick Deelen

Introduction

Different molecules in your body can react with glucose. Some of the resulting molecules are called AGEs (Advanced Glycemic End products). These AGEs accumulate during life span in different organs, including skin. So, the amount of AGEs is related to one's age (i.e., years since birth). Other factors, however, may accelerate the accumulation of AGEs. These factors include e.g. smoking, and also age related diseases like diabetes. The AGE molecules appear to be auto-fluorescent. Based on this property, UMCG has developed a novel, non-invasive screening method that can quantify the amount of AGEs in one's skin. Two huge data sets are created with a lot of phenotypic patient information, including their autofluorescence scores!

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