Advanced glycation end products (AGE) is one of the major pathways involved in the progression of diabetic complications. Also, diabetes increases risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. The aim of this study was to correlate AGE with executive functions in elderly people with type 2 diabetes (DM2). The sample consisted of 34 elderly DM2. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the AGE consumption score, AGE reader was used to measure skin autofluorescence and two tasks from the Brief Neuropsychological Assessment (NEUPSILIN) to assess executive functions. The Spearman and Mann-Whitney tests were used (mean+SD). AGE consumption (7.77+ 3.48) was considered adequate and the skin autofluorescence value was higher for age (3.03+0.67). There was no relationship between AGE measures and executive functions (p=0.253; p=0.481). It was observed that the better the performance in verbal fluency, the lower the medication amount (p<0.001; r=-0.555) used by the elderly and the higher the income (p=0.033; r=0.366). Women (-0.025+1.03) had a higher problem-solving Z score than men ( -0.93+1.03; p=0.011). Elderly non-smokers (1.01+2.12) obtained a higher Z score on this same task than elderly smokers (-0.17+1.36; p=0.034).
In conclusion, an adequate consumption of AGE was noted, but elderly DM2 had higher skin autofluorescence. AGE measures were not predictors of executive functions, but gender, smoking, income and polymarcy influenced this performance.
A. Alves: None.
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