Tan Xin, Fang Peng, An Jie, Lin Huan, Liang Yi, Shen Wen, Leng Xi, Zhang Chi, Zheng Yanting, Qiu Shijun
Medical Imaging Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No.16 Jichang Road, Guangdong, China.
College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Hunan, China.
Neuroradiology. 2016 Dec;58(12):1209-1216. doi: 10.1007/s00234-016-1752-4. Epub 2016 Oct 25.
Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have usually been found cognitive impairment associated with brain white matter (WM) abnormalities. However, findings have varied across studies, and any potential relationship with Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the whole-brain WM integrity of T2DM patients and to compare our findings with those of published AD cases.
In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) combined with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate whole-brain WM abnormalities in 48 T2DM patients and 48 healthy controls. The effects of age and gender were also evaluated.
In our study, significantly decreasing FA and increasing MD and DA values (P<0.05) were found in some WM regions closely related to the default mode network (DMN), including cingulum, the right frontal lobe involving the right uncinate fasciculus (UF), bilateral parietal lobes involving the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) involving the UF and the ILF. We also found abnormalities in the thalamus involving the fornix (FX), anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), and posterior thalamic radiation (PTR). The damaged regions above are similar to those found in patients with AD, as reported in previous studies.
The present study not only provides useful information about the WM regions and tracts affected by T2DM but also offers insight into the underlying neuropathological process in T2DM patients and the relationship between T2DM and AD.
2型糖尿病（T2DM）患者通常被发现存在与脑白质（WM）异常相关的认知障碍。然而，各研究结果存在差异，与阿尔茨海默病（AD）的任何潜在关系仍不明确。本研究的目的是评估T2DM患者的全脑WM完整性，并将我们的发现与已发表的AD病例的结果进行比较。
在本研究中，我们使用扩散张量成像（DTI）结合基于束的空间统计学（TBSS）来研究48例T2DM患者和48例健康对照的全脑WM异常。还评估了年龄和性别的影响。
在我们的研究中，在一些与默认模式网络（DMN）密切相关的WM区域发现FA值显著降低，MD和DA值增加（P<0.05），包括扣带、涉及右侧钩束（UF）的右侧额叶、涉及上纵束（SLF）和下纵束（ILF）的双侧顶叶，以及涉及UF和ILF的右侧颞中回（MTG）。我们还发现丘脑涉及穹窿（FX）、丘脑前辐射（ATR）和丘脑后辐射（PTR）的区域存在异常。如先前研究报道，上述受损区域与AD患者中发现的区域相似。
本研究不仅提供了有关受T2DM影响的WM区域和束的有用信息，还深入了解了T2DM患者潜在的神经病理过程以及T2DM与AD之间的关系。
