Role of the Maillard reaction in aging and age-related diseases. Studies at the cellular-molecular level

Abstract

Increase in life expectancy concerns most populations but more importantly developed countries. This increase is accompanied by the shift of chronic diseases to the senior population, especially cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type II. Aging mechanisms, mostly post-genetic, comprise among others the Maillard reaction which strongly contributes by several harmful processes to the age-dependent decline of tissue structure and function. Several of these mechanisms were studied in our laboratory at the cellular-molecular level and will be described in this review with respect to their role in aging and age-related pathologies, especially cardiovascular diseases.

Role of advanced glycation end products in the onset of diabetic kidney disease complications

“…AGEs are mainly formed non-enzymatically by the interaction of reducing sugars (glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, and fructose) with free amino groups of proteins (more often lysine and arginine), lipids, and nucleic acids, through complex and sequential reactions known as the Maillard reaction 22 . Under hyperglycemic and/or oxidative stress conditions, this process begins with the conversion of reversible Schiff base adducts to more stable, covalently bound Amadori rearrangement products.…”

Aging of the Skin

“…The reaction described during the early years of the 20 th century by Maillard, a French biochemistry professor, acquired first celebrity as an important mechanism of preserved food alteration [14][15][16][17]. It became soon evident that this reaction (Figure 8) is proceeding in the organism without needing a catalyst to produce Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGE-s) with well characterized harmful effects [14][15][16][17]. As this reaction precedes increasingly faster as the concentration of the reducing sugars (glucose and others) increases, it will certainly contribute to the age-dependent increase of tissue toxicity.…”

Longevity and Its Regulation: Centenarians and Beyond

“…Age-dependent loss of contractile cardiomyocytes was also demonstrated, attributed to a necrotic process. The combined result is fatal heart insufficiency, aggravated by rigidification of the interstitial collagen fibrils of the myocardium, attributed to the Maillard reaction [29]. This shortly summarized mechanism alone can put a more or less foreseeable limit to the functional duration of the cardiovascular system and limit life expectancy.…”