vascular and renal disease

Abstract. Formation and deposition of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) has been linked to late diabetic complications. Interactions of AGEs are at least partly mediated by binding of AGEs to their cellular surface receptor RAGE. This review sum-marizes the immunohistological data obtained for RAGE distribution in vessel segments of diabetic and non-diabetic patients with peripheral occlusive vascular disease and in kidneys of patients with diabetic nephropathy, and inflammatory and non-inflammatory renal disease. It is demonstrated that increased RAGE expression is not restricted to diabetes mellitus but contributes to a range of vascular and renal disorders. Key words: AGE; diabetes; endothelium; occlusive vascular disease; RAGE; renal diseas