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Review
. 2023 Apr 4:4:1148181.
doi: 10.3389/falgy.2023.1148181. eCollection 2023.

Do advanced glycation end products contribute to food allergy?

P K Smith  1 , C Venter  2 , L O'Mahony  3 , R Berni Canani  4 , O J L Lesslar  5
Affiliations
Review

Do advanced glycation end products contribute to food allergy?

P K Smith et al. Front Allergy. .

Abstract

Sugars can bind non-enzymatically to proteins, nucleic acids or lipids and form compounds called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). Although AGEs can form in vivo, factors in the Western diet such as high amounts of added sugars, processing methods such as dehydration of proteins, high temperature sterilisation to extend shelf life, and cooking methods such as frying and microwaving (and reheating), can lead to inordinate levels of dietary AGEs. Dietary AGEs (dAGEs) have the capacity to bind to the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) which is part of the endogenous threat detection network. There are persuasive epidemiological and biochemical arguments that correlate the rise in food allergy in several Western countries with increases in dAGEs. The increased consumption of dAGEs is enmeshed in current theories of the aetiology of food allergy which will be discussed.

Keywords: advanced glycation end products; alarmin; carboxymethyllysine (CML); food allergy; high molecular group box 1; methylglyoxal (MG); receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE).

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Conflict of interest statement

The reviewer EV declared a past co-authorship with the authors LO, PKS, and CV to the handling editor. PKS is employed by Queensland Allergy Services. OJLL is employed by Cingulum Health.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total body pool AGEs comprise those from diet (dAGEs), endogenous (eAGEs) and microbial (mAGEs). These bind to AGE receptors (RAGE) to activate several pathways that contribute to inflammatory responses. AGEs can increase TLR 4 receptor expression and there are converging pathways with TLR activation that may amplify RAGE agonism. There are other AGE ligands that have a role in clearance of these potentially inflammatory compounds.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Advanced glycation end products influence microbial composition and activity and these in turn partly contribute to the AGE pool. AGEs can directly influence epithelium integrity as can the inflammatory mediators induced by RAGE agonism. Of the many pro-allergic cytokines produced, IL33 helps shape the allergen responses of B lymphocytes, mast cells, eosinophils and basophils. RAGE agonism is critical for dendritic cell maturation, activation and antigen presentation, T cell responses to allergens, and Th17 differentiation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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