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Despite constant therapeutic achievements as well as technological advances in the treatment and control of diabetes mellitus (DM), the percentage of patients who do not reach their individual glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) target level is still significant. Large-scale clinical studies prove that effective for prevention of long-term diabetic complications is not only optimal glycemic control itself but its early achievement in the course of the disease. The latter defines the so-called “metabolic memory”, whose pathophysiological mechanisms are not completely known. However, the leading role of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and associated tissue damage is assumed. AGEs are a heterogeneous group of compounds derived from a nonenzymatic glycation of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids in different tissues and fluids with sufficient glucose concentration. Their formation is increased in a multitude of conditions associated with acute or chronic oxidative stress, including DM. AGEs are believed to play a central role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications by triggering various signaling pathways related to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and apoptosis. It is well known that HbA1c allows for relatively short-term monitoring of glycemic control. On the other hand, the ability of AGEs to irreversibly bind to long-term proteins makes them a potential biomarker for long-term retrospective glycemic control and associated chronic diabetic complications. Skin autofluorescence has been established as a fast, easily applicable, non-invasive technique for the measurement of skin accumulated AGEs. This method relies on the fluorescent properties of several glycated products and has been validated with the “gold standard” for assessment of tissue-bound AGEs – the skin biopsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]