Altered local gyrification and functional connectivity in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with mild cognitive impairment: A pilot cross-sectional small-scale single center study

Pengfei Shao; Xin Li; Ruomeng Qin; Hengheng Xu; Xiaoning Sheng; Lili Huang; Junyi Ma; Yue Cheng; Haifeng Chen; Bing Zhang; Hui Zhao; Yun Xu

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.934071

Altered local gyrification and functional connectivity in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with mild cognitive impairment: A pilot cross-sectional small-scale single center study

Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Sep 20:14:934071. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.934071. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Pengfei Shao^{1

2

3}, Xin Li⁴, Ruomeng Qin^{1

2

3}, Hengheng Xu^{1

2

3}, Xiaoning Sheng^{1

2

3}, Lili Huang^{1

2

3}, Junyi Ma^{1

2

3}, Yue Cheng¹, Haifeng Chen¹, Bing Zhang⁵, Hui Zhao^{1

2

3

6}, Yun Xu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
³ Jiangsu Province Stroke Center for Diagnosis and Therapy, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Affiliated Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Aims: This research aimed to explore alterations in the local gyrification index (GI) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: In this study, 126 T2DM patients with MCI (T2DM-MCI), 154 T2DM patients with normal cognition (T2DM-NC), and 167 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. All subjects underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests. A multimodal approach combining surface-based morphometry (SBM) and seed-based RSFC was used to determine the structural and functional alterations in patients with T2DM-MCI. The relationships among the GI, RSFC, cognitive ability, and clinical variables were characterized.

Results: Compared with the T2DM-NC group and HC group, T2DM-MCI patients showed significantly reduced GI in the bilateral insular cortex. Decreased RSFC was found between the left insula and right precuneus, and the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG). The altered GI was correlated with T2DM duration, global cognition, and episodic memory. The mediation effects of RSFC on the association between GI and cognition were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that GI may serve as a novel neuroimaging biomarker to predict T2DM-related MCI and help us to improve the understanding of the neuropathological effects of T2DM-related MCI.

Keywords: MRI; gyrification; mild cognitive impairment; resting-state functional connectivity; type 2 diabetes mellitus.