Recent advance in role of cerebral microvascular lesions in type 2 diabetes mellitus-associated cognitive impairment / 中华神经医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Cognitive impairment is a common clinical complication in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). T2DM-related cognitive impairment has complex and multifactorial pathogenesis. Cerebral microvascular dysfunction is an important pathological change in patients with T2DM and pre-T2DM, and it can induce blood-brain barrier injury and impaired blood perfusion regulation, with disturbed neurovascular coupling and cerebral autoregulation, leading cognitive impairment. This article reviews the epidemiology and pathophysiological mechanisms related to T2DM cerebral microvascular lesions and cognitive impairment, and how to monitor changes of cerebral microvascular structure and function so as to provide new approach for diagnosis and treatment of T2DM-related cognitive impairment.