[Follow-up of resting-state brain function with magnetic resonance imaging in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

Objective

To investigate the changes of resting brain function with time in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by using regional homogeneity (ReHo) with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).

Methods

Multidimensional cognitive function tests and rs-fMRI scans were performed in 21 T2DM patients and 12 healthy controls in 2012 and 2015 respectively.The differences in clinical variables and the ReHo values before and after were measured by paired sample t test, and the correlation between the change of ReHo value and the change of clinical variables was measured by Pearson correlation analysis based on voxel.

Results

The delayed score (14±6) of the T2DM patients in 2015 was significantly lower than that in 2012 (18±6) (t=-2.88, P=0.009); while the value of ReHo in the bilateral occipital lobe and right middle frontal gyrus was significantly lower than that in 2012 (P<0.01, Alphasim correction). And the decreased ReHo value in the left occipital lobe was significantly correlated with the change of complex figure test (CFT) delay score and the trail making test-B (TMT-B)(r=0.52, -0.46, both P<0.05). No significant change in cognitive function tests in the healthy control group was found between the two years, ReHo value in right cuneus decreased significantly (P<0.01, Alphasim correction), but it increased significantly in superior frontal gyrus (P<0.01, Alphasim correction) in 2015.No significant correlation between the changes of the ReHo values in the right cuneus and right superior frontal gyrus and the changes of cognitive function scores was found in the healthy controls.

Conclusions

The visual memory is significantly declined in T2DM patients within 3 years.The reduced neural activity areas in T2DM patients are in the bilateral occipitai lobes and the right middle frontal lobe. Decreased neural activity in the left occipital area is related to visual impairment, information processing speed and attention drops.