Association between habitual dietary and lifestyle behaviours and skin autofluorescence (SAF), a marker of tissue accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), in healthy adults

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are produced endogenously and also enter the body during the consumption of AGEs present in heat-processed food. It is unknown whether AGEs of dietary origin accumulate within the body of healthy individuals. AGEs can deposit within skin tissue long-term by crosslinking extracellular matrix proteins. The fluorescent nature of many AGEs enables their detection within the skin by non-invasively measuring skin autofluorescence (SAF). This study aimed to identify habitual dietary and lifestyle behaviours cross-sectionally associated with SAF in an adult population sample. 251 Healthy adult volunteers completed validated food frequency and physical activity questionnaires. Waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure and blood glucose was also measured. SAF was measured using an AGE Reader. Significant positive correlations were found between SAF and chronological age (r = 0.63, P