TECH

Measuring skin fluorescence to predict diabetes risk

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in developed countries in recent years. In fact, according to WHO statistics, the number of patients has increased from 108 million cases in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 and in 2015 became the cause of 1.6 million deaths.Apart from informing the population about prevention habits, such as maintaining active lives, physical exercise and good nutrition, it is also important to look for methods to diagnose it as soon as possible, in order to start treatment on time. At present the main predictors of this pathology are fasting obesity and glycemia, but researchers are still looking for alternative methods. One of the most curious is the one just described in a study published in the journal Diabetologia by researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In it, autofluorescence of the skin is used to predict both type 2 diabetes as some cardiovascular diseases and death. But to understand this method it is necessary to begin at the beginning. What is autofluorescence of the skin?

The Fluorescence of our Body

Recent research has shown that patients with diabetes have higher levels of substances called advanced glycation end products (AGE) in their body. In addition, it is also known that these compounds emit fluorescence, so that their accumulation results in the generation of a phenomenon known as autofluorescence of the skin.In order to test whether it could serve as a predictor of diabetes and other diseases these investigators performed a prospective analysis involving 72,880 people who had undergone baseline investigations between 2007 and 2013. Skin fluorescence was assessed with help of a reader provided with a light source that illuminates the tissue of interest, exciting the fluorescent molecules that may be in it. Finally, the light emitted by these is detected with a spectrometer or photodiodes.
In order to test whether it could serve as a predictor of diabetes and other diseases these investigators performed a prospective analysis involving 72,880 people who had undergone baseline investigations between 2007 and 2013. Skin fluorescence was assessed with help of a reader provided with a light source that illuminates the tissue of interest, exciting the fluorescent molecules that may be in it. Finally, the light emitted by these is detected with a spectrometer or photodiodes.After an average of four years of follow-up, 1,056 of the volunteers had developed diabetes, 1,258 were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and 928 died. Comparing the results with the baseline autofluorescence measured at the beginning of the study was found to be higher in all of them. Specifically, an increase of one unit in this parameter seemed to be related to a three times greater probability of contracting diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, while the risk of death increased fivefold.This is a non-invasive measure that could be performed in non-medical settings, such as pharmacies, in order to perform a much faster diagnosis than other methods, such as the presence of metabolic syndrome, which require more extensive measurements. At least, as the first measurement of disease risk, it could be a very effective measure, according to these results.


H. T.