Skin autofluorescence increases postprandially in human subjects

Background: Skin autofluorescence (SAF) is a property used for the noninvasive assessment of skin advanced glycation end products (AGES) and concentration of redox-regulated fluorophores. SAF was shown to closely mirror cardiovascular risk and to constitute a more sensitive parameter for diabetes screening than fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c. It has also been suggested that SAF measurement is independent of fasting status. Our study was designed in order to test whether SAF changes postprandially. Methods: We have investigated 21 Caucasian subjects (10 healthy subjects, 11 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus). SAF was measured in the fasting state, as well as 2 and 4 h following a meal with a medium AGE content. Results: Two hours postprandially, SAF significantly increased by 10.2% in the whole group, by 11.6% in the group of individuals with diabetes, and by 8.7% in healthy subjects (for all measurements P < 0.05 vs. baseline). Conclusions: SAF increases postprandially in individuals with diabetes mellitus and in healthy subjects. Therefore, we suggest that measurements of SAF should be performed in the fasting state in order to increase sensitivity and specificity of the method for assessing cardiovascular risk and diabetes screening.