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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Neuroimaging
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1360623

Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity of hippocampal subregions in type 2 diabetes mellitus-associated cognitive decline

Provisionally accepted
Lin Yao Lin Yao 1Mengyuan Li Mengyuan Li 1Kangcheng Wang Kangcheng Wang 2Liu Yanze Liu Yanze 1Haizhu Zheng Haizhu Zheng 1Zhen Zhong Zhen Zhong 1Shiqi Ma Shiqi Ma 1Hongmei Yang Hongmei Yang 1Mengmeng Sun Mengmeng Sun 1Min He Min He 1Haipeng Huang Haipeng Huang 1Hongfeng Wang Hongfeng Wang 1*
  • 1 Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
  • 2 Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) over time predisposes to inflammatory responses and abnormalities in functional brain networks that damage learning, memory, or executive function. The hippocampus is a key region often reportsreporting connectivity abnormalities in memory disorders. Here, we investigated peripheral inflammatory responses and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) changes characterized of hippocampal subregions in type 2 diabetes-associated cognitive decline (T2DACD).The study included 16 patients with T2DM, 16 patients with T2DACD and 25 healthy controls (HCs). Subjects were assessed for cognitive performance, tested for the expression of inflammatory factors IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α in peripheral serum, underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, and analyzed for RSFC using the hippocampal subregions as seeds. We also calculated the correlation between cognitive performance and RSFC of hippocampal subregion, and analyzed the significantly altered RSFC values of T2DACD for Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.Results: T2DACD patients showed a decline in their ability to complete cognitive assessment scales and experimental paradigms, and T2DM did not showedshow abnormal cognitive performance. IL-6 expression was increased in peripheral serum in both T2DACD and T2DM. Compared with HCs, T2DACD showed abnormalities RSFC of the left anterior hippocampus with left precentral gyrus and left angular gyrus.T2DM showed abnormalities RSFC of the left middle hippocampus with right medial frontal gyrus, right anterior and middle hippocampus with left precuneus, left anterior hippocampus with right precuneus and right posterior middle temporal gyrus. Compared with T2DM, T2DACD showed abnormalities RSFC of the left posterior hippocampus and right middle hippocampus with left precuneus. In addition, RSFC in the left posterior hippocampus with left precuneus of T2DACD was positively correlated with Flanker conflict response time (r=0.766, P=0.001). In the ROC analysis, the significantly altered RSFC values of T2DACD achieved significant performance.Conclusions: T2DACD showed a significant decrease in attentional inhibition and working memory, peripheral pro-inflammatory response increased, and abnormalities RSFC of the hippocampal subregions with default mode network and sensory-motor network. T2DM did not show a significant cognitive decline, but peripheral pro-inflammatory response increased and abnormalities RSFC of the hippocampus subregions had occurred in the brain.

    Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, cognitive decline, Resting-state functional connectivity, Hippocampus, subregion; peripheral Inflammation

    Received: 23 Dec 2023; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yao, Li, Wang, Yanze, Zheng, Zhong, Ma, Yang, Sun, He, Huang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hongfeng Wang, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China

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