AGER and Nephropathy: Exacerbated RAGE expression as well as increased circulating concentrations of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which act as the primary ligands for RAGE, have been well documented in a myriad of disease states, such as obesity (4–9), diabetes (10–14), cardiovascular disease (2, 15–23), aging (24–29), and nephropathy (13, 30–34).