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White matter seemingly altered by type 1 diabetes in children
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The effects of type 1 diabetes on the developing brain in children may be associated with chronic hyperglycemia and glucose variability, according to study results.
“Our results show that in this very young cohort, there were significant widespread reductions in [axial diffusivity] values in children with type 1 diabetes compared with age-matched nondiabetic control subjects,” researchers wrote.
They evaluated children aged 4 to 9 years with type 1 diabetes (n=127) and age-matched controls (n=67) who underwent diffusion-weighted MRI scans to determine the effect of type 1 diabetes on white matter structure.
The researchers considered patients’ histories, including HbA1c, lifetime adverse events, glucose levels and cognition.
Children with type 1 diabetes demonstrated significantly reduced axial diffusivity in the widespread brain regions compared with controls in the between-group analysis (P<.05), according to researchers.
Earlier new-onset diabetes was related to an increase in radial diffusivity among children with type 1 diabetes; longer duration of the disease was linked to reduced axial diffusivity (P<.05), reduced radial diffusivity (P<.05) and increased fractional anisotropy, according to data.
Their HbA1c values also appeared negatively associated with fractional anisotropy values and positively associated with radial diffusivity values within the widespread brain regions, researchers wrote.
Continuous glucose monitoring measurements indicated significantly negative associations with fractional anisotropy values in widespread regions of the brain (P<.05), according to data.
They also observed a significant association between white matter structure and cognitive ability in children with type 1 diabetes (P<.05), but not in controls.
“Future longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand white matter development in children with type 1 diabetes and whether brain structure can be used to predict cognitive outcome,” researchers wrote.
Disclosure: Some of the researchers report various financial ties with Animas, Becton Dickinson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Insuline Medical, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi.
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