Russian scientists suggested new simple indicator of organism ageing.
      
      Scientists of Russian State Medical University (Moscow) suggested using skin health indexes as noninvasive (implying no intervention to a human organism) indicators of organism ageing. Signs of skin ageing are usually easily detected, but we lack scoring methods, which can also become biomarkers for whole organism ageing process.
      
      Scientists suggested to use skin fluorescence after being exposed to near UV radiation (with wavelength of 365 nm). They estimated age-specific changes of intrinsic skin fluorescence by means of measuring fingertip fluorescence on a fluorometer. Experiments showed that skin fluorescence increase (wavelength of 420-480 nm) correlates well with chronological age of 20-70 year-old people (correlation coefficient is 0.7).
      
      However, some diseases influence skin fluorescence. For example, liquidators of Chernobyl disaster, which aged less than 43, when the disaster happened, showed fluorescence increase acceleration with time. Children with insulin-dependent diabetes showed same tendency for fluorescence increase acceleration.
      
      Formation of glycotoxins (cross-linked polymers) in derma is considered to be one of the main reasons for skin age-specific changes and fluorescence fluctuations. Before the toxins are formed, skin matrix proteins are glycosylated, i.e. sugar molecules bind with protein amino groups.
      
      Science & Life