Association between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and diabetic complications: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Pooled result · AGE levelsResult — go to the resultPooled MD 0.29 AU 95% CI 0.23–0.36Authors' conclusion
Overall, elevated AGEs are consistently associated with diabetic complications. Tissue-bound sAF serves as a versatile clinical biomarker for global end-organ damage, whereas circulating CML acts as a distinct indicator of macrovascular risk.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with diabetes in observational studies evaluating AGEs (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science)
- Participants
- 6,288 patients15 studies
- Comparison
- Patients with diabetic complications vs without complications
- Outcome
- AGE levels
Methodological detailsanalyses stratified by modality (tissue-bound skin autofluorescence (sAF) and circulating CML)
- Analyses stratified by modality (tissue-bound sAF and circulating CML)
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Pooled MD
0.29 AU
95% CI 0.23–0.36
With complicationsvs Without complications
pooled MD 0.29 AU (95% CI 0.23–0.36)
Further pooled results
Tissue-bound sAF by complication subtype (subgroup analyses)
- Tissue-bound sAF was consistently elevated across all microvascular and macrovascular subtypes
Circulating CML and macrovascular outcomes (subgroup analysis)
- Circulating CML: highly selective, robust association with macrovascular outcomes, MD
- 20.24 µmol/mol lys (95% CI 7.19-33.29)
Circulating CML and microvascular angiopathy (subgroup analysis)
- Circulating CML showed no significant link with microvascular angiopathy
Original publication
Association between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and diabetic complications: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. Published 8 July 2026. doi:10.
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