Glycation and the Development of Diabetic Retinopathy

The levels of advanced-stage products of the Maillard reaction in lens proteins are considered to reflect the sum of accumulated glycation over time, because there is little turnover of lens crystallins. Thus, we investigated the relationship between the degree of diabetic complications, i. e. diabetic retinopathy and levels of advanced-stage products accumulated in the lens proteins prior to the surgical resection. The level of advanced-stage products in the lens proteins increased with the progression of diabetic retinopathy. The differences among the level in the groups of each diabetic retinopathy were significant. These results suggest that glycation measured by advanced Maillard product in the lens protein plays an important role in the etiology of diabetic complications.