ABSTRACT
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rapidly developing, severe, and often life-threatening condition characterized by widespread inflammation of the lung. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their receptor, the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), have been implicated in a number of disease processes, including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and neurodegenerative disorders. This chapter focuses on the role of AGEs/RAGE in gastric aspiration-induced pulmonary inflammatory response. It describes how a high-AGE diet has been implicated as a risk factor for severe pulmonary inflammatory disease. The chapter explains the characteristics of interaction between AGEs and RAGE and signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of aspiration-induced ARDS. The pathophysiology of aspiration and subsequent ARDS is related to endothelial injury and increased vascular permeability. AGEs are a heterogeneous group of compounds that derive from nonenzymatic glycation and oxidation of lipids and proteins.
