Maillard Reaction and Oxidative Stress are Interrelated Stochastic Mechanisms of Aging

Summary

A number of observations point toward a tight relationship between the Maillard reaction and oxidative pathways of injury to biological moleculesin vitro andin vivo. These include the decreased crosslinking rate of glycated proteins and the decreased formation rate of the glycoxidation products carboxymethyl-lysine and pentosidine in absence of O₂, the catalysis of Maillard reaction mediated damage to proteins by Vitamin C oxidation products, the formation of free radicals in early steps of the glycation reaction and in lipoproteins exposed to reducing sugarsin vitro and in vivo,and the polymerization or fragmentation of macromolecules exposed to sugars in presence of metal catalysts. These reactions appear to occur as part of the aging process and, at an accelerated rate, in diabetes and uremia. Two major questions arise: Is damage inflicted by glycoxidation reactions quantitatively significant, and will antioxidant therapy or therapy aimed at blocking the advanced Maillard reaction help prevent them?