ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1579562
Cross-sectional study on the association between retinal microcirculation changes based on optical coherence tomography angiography and mild cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hefei Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- 2Hefei BOE Hospital, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: To investigate the association between retinal microcirculation changes, assessed using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to determine whether retinal microcirculation changes can serve as a potential biomarker for MCI in these patients. Methods: A total of 100 patients with T2DM who visited Hefei Aier Eye Hospital between April 2023 and December 2024 were selected. Retinal microcirculation indicators, including the perfusion density of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), the perfusion density of the deep capillary plexus (DCP), the central foveal thickness (CMT) and the area of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), were evaluated using OCTA. The cognitive function of the patients was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The association between retinal microcirculation indicators and MCI was explored using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The perfusion density of SCP and DCP in all patients was lower than the normal value. Patients with CMT outside the normal range accounted for 73%, and those with FAZ outside the normal range accounted for 23%. No significant correlation was found between individual retinal microcirculation indicators and MCI. However, a significant association was observed when the four indicators were combined (P < 0.001), indicating that retinal microcirculation changes based on OCTA are significantly correlated with MCI in patients with T2DM. Conclusion: Retinal microcirculation changes based on OCTA are significantly associated with MCI in patients with T2DM, suggesting that retinal microcirculation indicators may serve as potential biomarkers for MCI in these patients.
Keywords: optical coherence tomography angiography, Retinal microcirculation, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Mild Cognitive Impairment, biomarker
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhang and Jia. 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: Wei Wang, Hefei Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.