Amide proton transfer imaging reveals cerebral metabolic alterations associated with cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes mellitus

作者：Hongjun Jiang, Shuncheng Yu, Langxuan Yu, Wei Du, Chang Yuan, Jiajun Cao, Qingwei Song, Tieli Liu, Yanwei Miao, Weiwei Wang · 发表于：Journal of Translational Medicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12967-025-07083-0 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Lanthanide and Transition Metal Complexes、Metabolism and Genetic Disorders、Gastroesophageal reflux and treatments

BACKGROUND: Amide proton transfer (APT) imaging indirectly reflects tissue metabolic changes by detecting variations in the concentration of mobile amide protons and tissue pH. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is often accompanied by cognitive dysfunction and diabetic encephalopathy, both of which pose serious threat to human health and quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of APT imaging as a novel biomarker for detecting cerebral metabolic alterations and to investigate its associations with cognitive impairment in patients with T2DM. METHODS: This study included 32 T2DM patients, comprising 16 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 16 with normal cognition (NC), and 26 healthy controls. Clinical data and cognitive assessments were collected within one week of MRI acquisition. Imaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) were evaluated using AI-assisted tools. APT values were measured in predefined brain regions, including the hippocampus (hipp), temporal white matter (TWM), temporal gray matter (TGM), occipital white matter (OWM), occipital gray matter (OGM), and cerebral peduncles (CPs) using 3D Slicer software. Group differences were analyzed with one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests (or Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction for non-parametric data). Partial correlations (Bonferroni-corrected) assessed the links between APT values and cognitive scores, as well as between APT values and CSVD imaging marke...