Abstract
Objective This study aimed to investigate regional homogeneity in the
first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes patients.
Methods Seventy-eight subjects, including 26 type 2 diabetes patients, 26
first-degree relatives, and 26 healthy controls, were assessed. All
participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging
scanning. The estimated regional homogeneity value was used to evaluate
differences in brain activities.
Results In first-degree relatives, we observed significantly
decreased regional homogeneity in the left anterior cingulate cortex, left
insula, and bilateral temporal lobes, and increased regional homogeneity in the
left superior frontal gyrus, right anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral
posterior cingulate cortex compared to healthy controls. In type 2 diabetes
patients, we detected altered regional homogeneity in the left anterior
cingulate cortex, left insula, bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, and several
other brain regions compared to healthy controls. Both first-degree
relatives and type 2 diabetes patients showed decreased regional homogeneity in
the left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, left anterior
cingulate cortex, left insula, and increased regional homogeneity in the left
superior frontal gyrus and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex.
Conclusion These findings suggest that altered regional homogeneity in
the left anterior cingulate cortex, left insula, left superior frontal gyrus,
bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral temporal lobes might be a
neuroimaging biomarker of type 2 diabetes -related brain dysfunction.
Key words
first-degree relatives - type 2 diabetes - cognitive performance - resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging - regional homogeneity