nutrients Review Dietary Advanced Glycation Endproducts and the Gastrointestinal Tract Timme van der Lugt 1,2,* , Antoon Opperhuizen 1,2, Aalt Bast 1,3 and Misha F. Vrolijk 3 1 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 2 Office for Risk Assessment and Research, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), 3540 AA Utrecht, The Netherlands 3 Campus Venlo, Maastricht University, 5911 BV Venlo, The Netherlands;
[email protected] (A.B.);
[email protected] (M.F.V.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 27 August 2020; Accepted: 11 September 2020; Published: 14 September 2020 Abstract: The prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is increasing in the world. The introduction of the Western diet has been suggested as a potential explanation of increased prevalence. The Western diet includes highly processed food products, and often include thermal treatment. During thermal treatment, the Maillard reaction can occur, leading to the formation of dietary advanced glycation endproducts (dAGEs). In this review, different biological effects of dAGEs are discussed, including their digestion, absorption, formation, and degradation in the gastrointestinal tract, with an emphasis on their pro-inflammatory effects. In addition, potential mechanisms in the inflammatory effects of dAGEs are discussed. This review also specifically elaborates on the involvement of the effects of dAGEs in IBD and focuses on evidence regarding the involvement of dAGEs in the symptoms of IBD. Finally, knowledge gaps that still need to be filled are identified. Keywords: inflammatory bowel disease; dietary advanced glycation endproducts; gastrointestinal tract; inflammation; digestion 1.