Enhancement of Impaired Olfactory Neural Activation and Cognitive Capacity by Liraglutide, but Not Dapagliflozin or Acarbose, in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A 16-Week Randomized Parallel Comparative Study

• DOI: 10.2337/dc21-2064
• Publication Date: 2022-03-09T20:39:28Z
• Authors: Haiyan Cheng; Zhou Zhang; Bing Zhang; Wen Zhang; Jin Wang; Wenyu Ni; Yingwen Miao; Jiani Liu; Yan Bi
• Keywords: Acarbose; Dapagliflozin; Cognitive Decline

OBJECTIVE The comparative neuroprotective effects of different antidiabetes drugs have not been characterized in randomized controlled trials. Here, we investigated the therapeutic liraglutide, dapagliflozin, or acarbose treatment on brain functional alterations and cognitive changes patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Thirty-six diabetes inadequately metformin monotherapy were to receive for 16 weeks. Brain MRI (fMRI) scan a battery assessments evaluated pre- postintervention all subjects. RESULTS 16-week liraglutide significantly enhanced impaired odor-induced left hippocampal activation Gaussian random field correction improved subdomains delayed memory, attention, executive function (all P < 0.05), whereas dapagliflozin did not. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that such improvements health could be partly ascribed direct effect (β = 0.330, 0.022) memory 0.410, 0.004) as well metabolic ameliorations reduced waist circumference, decreased body fat ratio, elevated fasting insulin 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our head-to-head study restored domains diabetes, results expand clinical application provide novel strategy individuals high risk decline.