Potential hippocampal region atrophy in diabetes mellitus type 2: a voxel-based morphometry VSRAD study.
OBJECTIVE
Among diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients, the frequency of cognitive dysfunction is higher and the relative risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is approximately twice that of nondiabetics. Cognitive impairment symptoms of AD are induced by limbic system dysfunction, and an early-stage AD brain without dementia has the potential for atrophy in the hippocampal region. In this study, we estimated potential hippocampal region atrophy in DM2 and pursued the association between DM2 and cognitive impairment/AD.


METHODS
Voxel-based morphometry analysis was performed in 28 diabetics (14 men, 14 women; ages 59-79 years, mean 70.7 years) and 28 sex- and agematched (+/-1 year) nondiabetics. Severity of gray matter loss in the hippocampal region and whole brain were investigated. Group analysis was performed using twotailed unpaired t-test; significance was assumed with less than 1% (P < 0.01) of the critical rate.


RESULTS
There was a significant difference between diabetics and nondiabetics regarding the severity of hippocampal region atrophy and whole-brain atrophy. Only diabetics showed a positive correlation for severity of hippocampal region atrophy and whole-brain atrophy (rs = 0.69, P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Aged DM2 patients have the potential for hippocampal region atrophy, and its dysfunction can be related to the expression of a cognitive impairment that resembles AD.
Department of Radiology, Ohda Municipal Hospital, Ohda, Japan.
Kazutoshi
K
Kamiyama
Akihiko
A
Wada
Masaki
M
Sugihara
Souichi
S
Kurioka
Kumi
K
Hayashi
Takafumi
T
Hayashi
Takeshi
T
Yoshisako
Nobuko
N
Yamamoto
Youji
Y
Tsuchie
Syuhei
S
Yamaguchi
Toshitsugu
T
Sugimoto
Hajime
H
Kitagaki
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged