REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Neuroendocrine Science
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1624472
This article is part of the Research TopicAssociation of Diabetes Mellitus with Cognitive Impairment and Neurological Disorders Vol. 2View all 4 articles
A Review of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cognitive Impairment
Provisionally accepted
- Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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The association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cognitive impairment represents a critical public health concern, particularly against the backdrop of the rising global prevalence of diabetes and aging populations. Accumulating evidence indicates that T2DM is linked to declines in multiple cognitive domains, which may progress to cognitive impairment or even dementia. This cognitive impairment arises from complex interactions among insulin resistance, chronic inflammatory responses, vascular injury and microangiopathy and oxidative stress. Clinical studies suggest that strict glycemic control combined with behavioral and lifestyle interventions may delay cognitive decline, though their long-term efficacy requires further evidence-based validation. Future research should leverage multiomics technologies to identify early biomarkers for T2DM-related cognitive impairment, elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms, identify specific therapeutic targets, and develop personalized intervention strategies. This review systematically examines the epidemiological correlations, pathophysiological mechanisms, and advances in clinical management of T2DM-related cognitive disorders, with the aim of providing a theoretical foundation for early prevention and targeted treatment.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, cognitive impairment, Insulin Resistance, Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial dysfunction
Received: 07 May 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kan, Qu, Wang, Zhang and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lili Xu, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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