Dietary Advanced Glycation End-Products: Molecular mechanisms and Preventive Tools

Purpose of Review: Glycotoxins are highly reactive compounds generated during glycation processes either endogenously or from exogenous sources. They encompass a diverse and heterogenous group of compounds including dicarbonyls, glyceraldehyde-derived intermediates, and crosslinked advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Recent Findings: Dietary AGEs contribute to the endogenous AGE pool in both normal and diabetic populations further inducing oxidative stress, insulin resistance, aberrant immune response, and chronic inflammation. Emerging evidence indicates that AGEs employ diverse mechanisms of action to modulate gene expression including direct intracellular protein glycation, induction of pro-oxidant, pro-inflammatory and alarmin signaling pathways, ER stress, and epigenetic modifications. Summary: The purpose of this review is to provide an update on dietary AGE-mediated molecular pathways implicated in cell and tissue dysfunction and give an account of recent interventions for their therapeutic targeting. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.