Purpose: In Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), white matter pathology has been suggested to play an important role in the etiology of T2DM-related cognitive impairment. This study aims to investigate the integrity of the cingulum bundle (CB), a major WM tract, in T2DM patients using diffusion tensor tractography.

Methods: Thirty-seven T2DM patients and 34 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls were included and underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Tractography of bilateral CB tracts were performed and diffusion measurements were compared between the two groups. Next, brain regions with significant group differences on fractional anisotropy (FA) values were set as the region of interest and the CB fibers that passed through were identified. Diffusion measures were extracted from these fibers to investigate their correlations with the cognitive performances and endocrine parameters.

Results: T2DM patients exhibited decreased FA in bilateral CB, increased mean diffusion in the right CB and decreased length in the left CB. Through voxel-wise comparison, the most prominent FA difference was identified in the posterior segment of the CB and the reconstructed tract was part of the retrosplenial component. Importantly, the diffusion measurements of the tract were significantly correlated with the impaired performance in executive functioning and elevated insulin resistance (IR) in T2DM group, instead of the control group.

Conclusions: The diffusion measurements in bilateral CB were altered in T2DM patients, which might reflect important neuropathologic changes in the fibers. Our study adds to knowledge about how the cingulum changes structurally along its entire length in T2DM and highlights the relationship between white matter and cognitive performance. Besides, IR might be an important risk factor that warrants further exploration.

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