Glycation (AGEs)

Gly­ca­ti­on is a reac­tion in which sugar mole­cu­les attach to pro­te­ins wit­hout the invol­vement of enzy­mes. This pro­du­ces advan­ced gly­ca­ti­on end pro­ducts, or AGEs for short. The­se com­pounds accu­mu­la­te in tis­sues over a life­time and are dif­fi­cult for the body to break down.

Appli­ca­ti­on

In the skin, gly­ca­ti­on main­ly affects long-lived struc­tu­ral pro­te­ins such as col­la­gen and elas­tin. The fibres beco­me cross-lin­ked, stiff and britt­le, and lose their ela­s­ti­ci­ty. AGEs also pro­mo­te inflamm­a­ti­on and oxi­da­tive stress. Per­sis­t­ent­ly rai­sed blood sugar, as in poor­ly con­trol­led dia­be­tes, acce­le­ra­tes the pro­cess; UV radia­ti­on and smo­king also contribute.

Good to know

Gly­ca­ti­on is part of natu­ral skin age­ing and can­not be pre­ven­ted, but it can be influen­ced by a balan­ced diet low in rapidly absor­bed sug­ars, not smo­king and sun pro­tec­tion. Cos­me­tic anti-gly­ca­ti­on ingre­di­ents are being rese­ar­ched, but the­re is litt­le evi­dence so far of their effect on human skin.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Skin lon­ge­vi­ty (pre­ven­ti­on)