An advanced glycation endproduct ( AGE )‐rich diet promotes accumulation of AGE s in Achilles tendon

Advanced Glycation Endproducts ( AGE s) accumulate in long‐lived tissue proteins like collagen in bone and tendon causing modification of the biomechanical properties. This has been hypothesized to raise the risk of orthopedic injury such as bone fractures and tendon ruptures. We evaluated the relationship between AGE content in the diet and accumulation of AGE s in weight‐bearing animal Achilles tendon. Two groups of mice (C57 BL /6Ntac) were fed with either high‐fat diet low in AGE s high‐fat diet ( HFD ) ( n = 14) or normal diet high in AGE s ( ND ) ( n = 11). AGE content in ND was six to 50‐fold higher than HFD . The mice were sacrificed at week 40 and Achilles and tail tendons were carefully excised to compare weight and nonweight‐bearing tendons. The amount of the AGE s carboxymethyllysine ( CML ), methylglyoxal‐derived hydroimidazolone ( MG ‐H1) and carboxyethyllysine ( CEL ) in Achilles and tail tendon was measured using ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry ( UPLC ‐ MS / MS ) and pentosidine with high‐pressure liquid chromatography ( HPLC ) with fluorescent detection. AGE s in Achilles tendon were higher than in tail tendon for CML ( P