Fingertip skin autofluorescence as a non-invasive marker for vascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims/introduction: This study aimed to investigate whether non-invasive fingertip autofluorescence can evaluate micro- and macrovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Materials and methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study recruited 452 patients with type 2 diabetes between August 2017 and January 2023. Fingertip autofluorescence levels were measured using AGEs Sensor (Air Water Biodesign, Kobe, Japan).

Results: Fingertip autofluorescence correlated with body mass index, glycated hemoglobin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and duration of diabetes. Fingertip autofluorescence was increased in parallel with the number of micro- and macrovascular complications. A significant relationship was noted between fingertip autofluorescence as a dependent variable and sex, serum albumin, history of diabetic nephropathy, and coronary arterial disease as independent variables. Logistic regression analysis indicated the association of fingertip autofluorescence as a dichotomous variable with diabetic nephropathy as a significant predictor variable adjusted for age, sex, duration of diabetes, smoking status, and serum albumin. The receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that fingertip autofluorescence could be used to identify the presence of macrovascular complications (area under the curve: 0.65, 95% confidence interval: 0.585-0.707, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Fingertip autofluorescence may be a convenient and non-invasive potential marker for evaluating micro- and macrovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.