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. 2020 Dec 21:11:595962.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.595962. eCollection 2020.

Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes and White Matter Hyperintensity: A Systematic Review

Dan-Qiong Wang  1   2 , Lei Wang  1 , Miao-Miao Wei  2 , Xiao-Shuang Xia  2 , Xiao-Lin Tian  2 , Xiao-Hong Cui  3 , Xin Li  2
Affiliations

Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes and White Matter Hyperintensity: A Systematic Review

Dan-Qiong Wang et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

White matter (WM) disease is recognized as an important cause of cognitive decline and dementia. White matter lesions (WMLs) appear as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain. Previous studies have shown that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with WMH. In this review, we reviewed the literature on the relationship between T2DM and WMH in PubMed and Cochrane over the past five years and explored the possible links among the presence of T2DM, the course or complications of diabetes, and WMH. We found that: (1) Both from a macro- and micro-scopic point of view, most studies support the relationship of a larger WMH and a decrease in the integrity of WMH in T2DM; (2) From the relationship between brain structural changes and cognition in T2DM, the poor performance in memory, attention, and executive function tests associated with abnormal brain structure is consistent; (3) Diabetic microangiopathy or peripheral neuropathy may be associated with WMH, suggesting that the brain may be a target organ for T2DM microangiopathy; (4) Laboratory markers such as insulin resistance and fasting insulin levels were significantly associated with WMH. High HbA1c and high glucose variability were associated with WMH but not glycemic control.

Keywords: cognitive function; microangiopathy and neuropathy; microscopic; relationship; type 2 diabetes mellitus; white matter hyperintensities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of literature search.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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