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Publisher: Peytchinski Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 1312-773X (Online)
Issue: 2025, vol. 31, issue1
Subject Area: Medicine
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DOI: 10.5272/jimab.2025311.6069
Published online: 12 March 2025
Review article
J of IMAB. 2025 Jan-Mar;31(1):6069-6074
INSULIN RESISTANCE AS A RISK FACTOR FOR COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION
Antoniya Hachmeriyan1
, Nadezhda Stefanova2, Gabriela Panayotova1,
1) Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University - Varna, Bulgaria.
2) Department of General and Clinical Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Deontology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University - Varna, Bulgaria.
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Epidemiologic, experimental, and clinical data support a link between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The prevalence of both T2DM and AD increases with age, and both diseases are chronic and are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. AD incidence in late diabetic patients is two times higher compared with normal elderly people and is thought to arise from impaired insulin secretion and resistance, leading to nervous system damage and ultimately influencing cognitive function in patients.
Material and methods: Using representative keywords, we conducted a comprehensive search in the scientific web databases PubMed and Scopus and limited the publication date of the papers to the last 10 years.
Results: Insulin resistance (IR) causes long-term neuronal exposure to a high-level insulin environment, leading to neuronal degeneration and irreversible memory impairment. The review of the literature outlined several possible mechanisms for IR and cognitive dysfunction interplay: (1) IR affects hippocampal plasticity, (2) IR contributes to altered amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism, (3) IR is related to elevated tau protein concentration, (4) IR affects brain inflammatory reaction, (5) oxidative stress is identified as an early event in the development of brain IR, and (6) genetic factors, related to ApoE ε4 allele expression and IR are present.
Conclusion: Although secreted peripherally, insulin plays a profound role in cognitive function, and IR facilitates the brain's susceptibility to neurodegeneration. The brain insulin signaling pathways also offer a promising therapeutic target for managing cognitive disorders.
Keywords: insulin resistance, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive dysfunction,
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Please cite this article as: Hachmeriyan A, Stefanova N, Panayotova G. Insulin resistance as a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction. J of IMAB. 2025 Jan-Mar;31(1):6069-6074. [Crossref - 10.5272/jimab.2025311.6069]
Correspondence to: Antoniya Hachmeriyan, Department of Physiology and pathophysiology, Medical University, Varna; 55, Marin Drinov Str., Varna, Bulgaria; E-mail: antoniyahach@gmail.com
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Received: 30 August 2024
Published online: 12 March 2025