OBJECTIVETo investigate the associations of plasma levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetes and the extent to which any such associations could be explained by endothelial and renal dysfunction, low-grade inflammation, and arterial stiffness.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe prospectively followed 169 individuals with diabetic nephropathy and 170 individuals with persistent normoalbuminuria who were free of CVD at study entry and in whom levels of Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine, Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine, pentosidine and other biomarkers were measured at baseline. The median follow-up duration was 12.3 (interquartile range 7.6–12.5) years.RESULTSDuring the course of follow-up, 82 individuals (24.2%) died; 85 (25.1%) suffered a fatal (n = 48) and/or nonfatal (n = 53) CVD event. The incidence of fatal and nonfatal CVD and of all-cause mortality increased with higher baseline levels of AGEs independently of traditional CVD risk factors: hazard ratio (HR) = 1.30 (95% CI = 1.03–1.66) and HR = 1.27 (1.00–1.62), respectively. These associations were not attenuated after further adjustments for markers of renal or endothelial dysfunction, low-grade inflammation, or arterial stiffness.CONCLUSIONSHigher levels of AGEs are associated with incident fatal and nonfatal CVD as well as all-cause mortality in individuals with type 1 diabetes, independently of other risk factors and of several potential AGEs-related pathophysiological mechanisms. Thus, AGEs may explain, in part, the increased cardiovascular disease and mortality attributable to type 1 diabetes and constitute a specific target for treatment in these patients.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the associations of plasma levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetes and the extent to which any such associations could be explained by endothelial and renal dysfunction, low-grade inflammation, arterial stiffness, and advanced glycation end products (AGEs).RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe prospectively followed 169 individuals with diabetic nephropathy and 170 individuals with persistent normoalbuminuria who were free of CVD at study entry and in whom levels of sRAGE and other biomarkers were measured at baseline. The median follow-up duration was 12.3 years (7.6–12.5).RESULTSThe incidence of fatal and nonfatal CVD and all-cause mortality increased with higher baseline levels of log-transformed sRAGE (Ln-sRAGE) independently of other CVD risk factors: hazard ratio (HR) 1.90 (95% CI 1.13–3.21) and 2.12 (1.26–3.57) per 1-unit increase in Ln-sRAGE, respectively. Adjustments for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFRMDRD), but not or to a smaller extent for markers of endothelial dysfunction, low-grade inflammation, arterial stiffness, and AGEs, attenuated these associations to HR 1.59 (95% CI 0.91–2.77) for fatal and nonfatal CVD events and to 1.90 (1.09–3.31) for all-cause mortality. In addition, in patients with nephropathy, the rate of decline of GFR was 1.38 ml/min/1.73 m2 per year greater per 1-unit increase of Ln-sRAGE at baseline (P = 0.036).CONCLUSIONSHigher levels of sRAGE are associated with incident fatal and nonfatal CVD and all-cause mortality in individuals with type 1 diabetes. sRAGE-associated renal dysfunction may partially explain this association.

Aims/hypothesis Plasma soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE) may reflect the activity of the AGE-RAGE axis, which has been proposed as a potential mechanism linking hyperglycaemia to vascular complications in diabetes. We have therefore investigated: (1) whether sRAGE is associated with greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and microvascular complications in type 1 diabetic individuals; and (2) the extent to which any such associations are explained by markers of endothelial and renal dysfunction and inflammation.Methods The study included 477 individuals (234 women; mean age 42± 10 [SD] years) from the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study. We used linear regression analyses to investigate the differences in sRAGE levels between individuals with and without vascular complications. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, HbA 1c , duration of diabetes and other risk factors. Results Individuals with CVD (n=116) had higher levels of sRAGE than those without CVD or any microvascular complications (n =178): β =0.15 (95% CI 0.04-0.27).Diabetologia (2009) inflammation (β=0.12 [0.01-0.23]) attenuated these differences; altogether these variables explained about 50% of the association between sRAGE and prevalent CVD. sRAGE levels tended to be higher in the presence and across the levels of severity of albuminuria (p for trend= 0.087) and retinopathy (p for trend=0.057); adjustments for endothelial and renal dysfunction and inflammation also attenuated these differences. Conclusions/interpretation sRAGE is associated with greater prevalence of CVD in type 1 diabetic individuals, and these associations may be partly explained by endothelial and renal dysfunction and low-grade inflammation.

Aims/hypothesisThis study aimed to investigate the associations of plasma levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes.MethodsWe prospectively followed 165 individuals with diabetic nephropathy and 168 individuals with persistent normoalbuminuria who were free of CVD at study entry and in whom levels of HMGB1 and other cardiovascular risk factors were measured at baseline.ResultsDuring the course of follow-up (median, 12.3 years [interquartile range, 7.8–12.5]), 80 patients died, 82 suffered a fatal (n = 46) and/or non-fatal (n = 53) CVD event. After adjustment for age, sex, case–control status and other risk factors, patients with higher levels of loge HMGB1 had a higher incidence of fatal and non-fatal CVD and all-cause mortality: HR 1.55 (95% CI 0.94, 2.48) and HR 1.86 (95% CI 1.18, 2.93), respectively. Further adjustments for differences in markers of low-grade inflammation, endothelial and renal dysfunction and arterial stiffness did not attenuate these associations because plasma levels of HMGB1 were not independently associated with these variables.Conclusions/interpretationIn patients with type 1 diabetes, higher levels of plasma HMGB1 are independently associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality and, to a lesser extent, with a higher incidence of CVD. Larger studies are needed to ascertain more definitely the role of HMGB1 in the development of vascular complications in diabetes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00125-012-2622-1) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.