Evidence mapPaperPMID 42440237Full record

ArticleJournal of endocrinological investigation2026

Glymphatic dysfunction is associated with hyperglycemia-related cortical thinning in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Shuyue Fan, Yujie Zhang, Yong Luo, Rong Huang, Xin Wang, Yu-Chen Chen, Yong Xiao, Wenqing Xia

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Article in Journal of endocrinological investigation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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8 authors.

Shuyue Fan *Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yujie Zhang *Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yong LuoDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Rong HuangDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Xin WangDepartment of Radiology, The First People's Hospital of Yancheng, The Yancheng Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, No. 66, Renmin South Road, Yancheng, 224000, China.
Yu-Chen ChenDepartment of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China.
Yong XiaoDepartment of Radiology, The First People's Hospital of Yancheng, The Yancheng Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, No. 66, Renmin South Road, Yancheng, 224000, China. xiaoyongxy2008@163.com.
Wenqing XiaDepartment of Endocrinology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing, 210006, China. wen_qing_xia@126.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0830-6779

Funding

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation No. 2024M751466National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 82271967
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases the risk of cognitive impairment through metabolic-neurodegenerative interactions, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigates whether glycemic control modulates the relationships among glymphatic dysfunction, cortical thinning, and cognition in T2DM, with a focus on whether glymphatic impairment is associated with chronic hyperglycemia-related neurostructural decline.

methodsT2DM patients were stratified by glycemic control (Hemoglobin A1c < 7.5% vs. ≥ 7.5%). All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify cortical thickness, choroid plexus volume (CPV), perivascular space (PVS) volume, and the diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index. Group comparisons, Spearman correlations, and mediation analyses were used to examine the pathways linking glycemic control, glymphatic function, and cortical structure.

resultsA total of 54 poorly controlled T2DM patients, 38 well-controlled T2DM patients, and 99 healthy controls were included. Poorly controlled T2DM patients exhibited worse cognitive performance compared with healthy controls. Both T2DM groups showed reduced cortical thickness in the insula, fusiform gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus relative to healthy controls, with insular atrophy significantly associated with enlarged CPV. Markers of glymphatic dysfunction, including enlarged CPV, increased PVS volume, and reduced DTI-ALPS index, were most pronounced in the poorly controlled T2DM group. Cortical thickness and glymphatic measures each correlated with cognitive performance. Mediation analysis indicated that CPV showed associations consistent with a mediating role in the relationship between HbA1c and left insular cortical thinning.

conclusionCompared with other subgroups, in the poorly controlled T2DM group, glymphatic changes were more pronounced, and the glymphatic-cognitive associations were more evident. Furthermore, CPV showed associations consistent with a mediating role in the relationship between hyperglycemia and cortical thinning in T2DM patients. These findings suggest that the glymphatic system may serve as an associative link between systemic metabolic dysregulation and structural neurodegeneration, offering potential imaging biomarkers for early neurological risk assessment in T2DM.

Indexed as

Cognitive impairmentCortical thinningGlymphatic systemType 2 diabetes mellitus

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.