their formation is markedly accelerated in diabetes because of the increased availability of glucose also a "large body of evidence suggests that AGEs are important pathogenetic mediators of almost all diabetes complications"; AGEs "is a haphazard process that impairs the functioning of biomolecules" and is a significant contributor to many diseases of aging . . . [the molecules form a] family of complex structures that are often yellow-brown. [Can be formed by cooking to] create tasteful flavors that humans have learned to enjoy;
They have been known for 100 years in foods but only lately discovered that the body forms them also and the harm they do has been studied starting just a few years ago. Food companies now mostly use other means to add taste and texture to products.
I have no biochemistry training. This is info I gathered and interpreted from several sources.
Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) "form at a constant but slow rate in the normal body; their formation is markedly accelerated in diabetes because of the increased availability of glucose also a "large body of evidence suggests that AGEs are important pathogenetic mediators of almost all diabetes complications"; AGEs "is a haphazard process that impairs the functioning of biomolecules" and is a significant contributor to many diseases of aging. Outside of the body AGEs may be formed by heating (e.g., cooking). Don't confuse the glycation anomaly with glycosylation. The longer a protein lives, the greater the chance it will meet a sugar that leads to “glycated proteins.”
- Glycated proteins form by means of
- cross-links (adjacent chains of a polymer or a protein joined by sharing electrons; i.e., covalent bonds)
- causing AGEs-modified tissue to accumulate over time; and
- reduce the Protein flexibility of structures,
- restricting molecules to certain shapes
- this is another reason why our blood vessels become stiff with age.
- AGEs can cause covalent crosslink formation between proteins, which alters their structure and function.
- "The accumulation of AGEs-related damage is proportional to the dietary intake of (preformed) AGEs.
(wiki source) - Organic compounds (proteins) react with sugars to form a covalent (sharing electrons) cross-linked family of complex structures that are often yellow-brown. Heat helps create tasteful flavors that humans have learned to enjoy;
- food manufacturers have been using this knowledge to boost the flavor of natural foods by incorporating synthetic AGEs into foods (though there has been a switch to other methods).
- It has only been recently that it was learned that the process also occurs slowly in vivo.
- AGEs can be used as a marker of ageing.
- AGEs is the adventitious [develops in an unusual place] and crosslinking of proteins causing the complications of diabetes and aging. "The accumulation of AGEs-related damage is proportional to the dietary intake of exogenous (preformed) AGEs," "the AGEs content of the Western diet has increased vastly in the past 50 years, as has the quantity of food consumed."
- Long-lived proteins such as structural collagen and lens crystallins (lens of the eye) particularly are implicated as pathogenic targets of AGEs processes.
- AGEs formation in vascular wall collagen appears to be an especially deleterious event, causing crosslinking of collagen molecules to each other and to circulating proteins. This leads to plaque formation, basement membrane thickening, and loss of vascular (characterized by vessels) elasticity.
- A lowered glucose concentration will unhook the sugars from the amino groups (proteins) to which they are attached.