The AGE Scanner uses a patented optical measurement technology to measure tissue glycation that has been validated and used in hundreds of clinical studies. In total, more than 250,000 people have been included in these registered clinical studies. The AGE Scanner is currently in every day use by several thousands of practitioners and health consultants around the world.
The clinical results and the large installed base of the AGE Scanner demonstrate that this non-invasive glycation measurement technology is robust and reliable and that the product has a great potential in health applications. Here, the main results of the validation studies for measuring tissue glycation and biological age are summarized.
1st. Skin autofluorescence is a marker of tissue AGEs
It has been scientifically validated that the autofluorescence of skin tissue at specific wavelengths is a marker of tissue AGEs. For example, researchers at the University Medical Center Groningen have shown in three studies that a scan of the skin autofluorescence correlates strongly with biochemical lab analyses of skin biopsies taken at the same location – widely considered to be the gold standard for measuring AGEs [e.g. 1].
2nd. Reference values for tissue glycation
It is well established that on average healthy people have a level of tissue AGEs that increases steadily with calendar age. Reference values for healthy people are available for each calendar age from scientific studies. When compared to these reference values the skin glycation level is actually also a measure of biological age. If a person’s scan of tissue glycation is lower than the reference value then the biological age is less than the calendar age and vice versa.
Figure: Average tissue AGE level from skin autofluorescence as a function of age (blue dots) for 70 000 healthy participants (van Waateringe et al. 2018, Lifelines, the Netherlands). The gray shaded area contains 68% of the measurements. Ages below 20 years are not represented.
Marketing experience further shows that reporting biological age instead of the glycation level can help to better connect with clients and generate awareness.
3rd. Measuring changes in tissue AGE level
The AGE Scanner can be used to measure changes in tissue AGE level. This is most evident for the large changes in the level of glycation that are often reported in the clinical literature, such as in people that experience high inflammation or a reduced kidney function. Smaller changes in AGE level in healthy individuals can also be measured. For example, in a general population study including 80 000 participants it was demonstrated that tissue AGE levels are higher with the presence of metabolic syndrome [2]. In particular, the increase in tissue AGE level is on average higher for participants with a higher number of metabolic risk factors.
In dietary studies the overall AGE load during the study duration is often small compared to the existing tissue AGE level – which in adults can be the result of decades of AGE accumulation. In this case a change in AGE level can be more difficult to detect. However, a recent study in about 2000 people showed that only a 1 S.D. higher daily intake of CML (a common AGE) at baseline is already associated with a 0.03 higher skin autofluorescence after five years [3]. This corresponds to a biological age that is higher by one year. Known dietary supplements are able to reduce the tissue AGE level by 0.1 – 0.2 [4]
Interventions that show a change in tissue AGE level are also expected to have a long-lasting health effect. A low AGE diet already reduces inflammation and oxidative stress on the short term and improves metabolic risk factors.
More information about the validated technology of the AGE Scanner can be provided upon individual request via info@diagnoptics.com.
[1] Meerwaldt et al. 2004, Diabetologia 47:1324–1330, ‘Simple non-invasive assessment of advanced glycation endproduct accumulation’
