Association between serum levels of the soluble receptor (sRAGE) for advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and their receptor (RAGE) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: The binding of AGEs to RAGE is involved in diabetic vascular complications. We studied sRAGE levels and RAGE protein expression (P) together with N-carboxymethyl lysine (CML), a major AGE, in 74 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) and 43 healthy (C) children.

METHODS: sRAGE and CML levels were determined by ELISA and RAGE P was evaluated in mononuclear cells by Western immunoblotting.

RESULTS: Serum sRAGE was higher in DM1 than in C (1430 +/- 759 vs 1158 +/- 595 pg/ml, p = 0.047), inversely correlated to diabetes duration (r = -0.265, p = 0.037) and directly correlated to LDL-cholesterol levels (r = 0.224, p = 0.039). Diabetes duration correlated independently with sRAGE (p = 0.034). Circulating CML levels were not significantly different between DM1 and C groups (3.51 +/- 1.49 vs 3.59 +/- 1.83 ng/ml, p > 0.05) and RAGE P was lower in DM1 than in C (61 +/- 46 vs 102 +/- 63%, p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum sRAGE in children with DM1 may provide temporary protection against cell damage and may be sufficient to eliminate excessive circulating CML.