Kidney transplantation decreases the tissue level of advanced glycosylation end-products

We have studied the effect of chronic renal failure (CRF) and kidney transplantation on advanced glycosylation end-products (AGE) measured as collagen-linked fluorescence (CLF) in the skin and peritoneum of non-diabetic patients. Of 34 patients with CRF, 18 were studied before the commencement of peritoneal dialysis (CRF group), and 16 were studied 5-31 weeks after kidney transplantation (transplant group). The control group consisted of 24 patients with normal renal function. Skin CLF in the CRF group (20.9 +/- 2.02 U/mg) was higher than in the control (8.52 +/- 1.08 U/mg, P = 0.0001) and transplant groups (10.7 +/- 2.43 U/mg, P = 0.003). Peritoneal CLF in the CRF group (30.5 +/- 5.64 U/mg) was higher than in the control group (16.1 +/- 2.25 U/mg, P = 0.031) but was not different from the transplant group (19.4 +/- 3.66 U/mg, P = 0.11). Peritoneal CLF of control and transplant groups were not different (P = 0.45). The results of this study suggest that restoration of renal function affects tissue AGE levels.