Relationship of skin autofluorescence to cardiovascular disease in Japanese hemodialysis patients

Advanced glycation end products (AGE) are significantly increased in end-stage renal disease patients and it has been suggested that AGE accumulation is related to the progression of cardiovascular disease. An autofluorescence reader non-invasively assesses AGE accumulation using skin autofluorescence under ultraviolet light. Skin autofluorescence has been reported to be an independent predictor of mortality in Caucasian hemodialysis patients. The aim of this study was to assess whether skin autofluorescence in Japanese hemodialysis patients is related to the presence of cardiovascular disease. In this cross-sectional study, patients on maintenance hemodialysis (N = 128; 59 men, 69 women) were included. AGE accumulation was assessed by skin autofluorescence using an autofluorescence reader. Associations between skin autofluorescence, cardiovascular disease, and other parameters were studied. Skin autofluorescence correlated with age (r = 0.32, P < 0.01), diabetes (r = 0.21, P = 0.02), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) (r = 0.23, P = 0.02), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (r = 0.20, P = 0.03), and plasma pentosidine (r = 0.20, P = 0.03). Each parameter was compared in patients with and without cardiovascular disease; the gender distribution, age, carotid IMT, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hsCRP, and skin autofluorescence were significantly related to the presence of cardiovascular disease. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified carotid IMT (OR 6.76), hsCRP (OR 1.41), and skin autofluorescence (OR 2.29) as significant factors for the presence of cardiovascular disease. Increased skin autofluorescence was related to the presence of cardiovascular disease in Asian (non-Caucasian) hemodialysis patients, and therefore an autofluorescence reader might have the potential to be a useful assessment of cardiovascular risk in these patients.