The aim of this thesis was to test the hypothesis that a high-AGE meal is able to induce an acute vascular dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our assumption was that the cooking method of a meal plays a decisive role in influencing the extent of the postprandial vascular dysfunction.More specifically, our hypotheses were that: 1. a single "real-life" high-AGE meal induces a more pronounced vascular dysfunction than an identical, but low-AGE meal 2. this dysfunction goes beyond the effects of postprandial hyperglycemia and hypertryglyceridemia 3. pre-treatment with benfotiamine can prevent this effect.