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Thalamic Nuclei Atrophy in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Across Disease Duration
Hao Fang1, Jiajing Yin2, Shui Tian1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital With Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging : JMRI
|June 18, 2026
Summary
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) causes significant thalamic volume loss, particularly in anterior, medial, and lateral regions. Longer disease duration accelerates this neurodegeneration, impacting cognition and motor function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Endocrinology
- Neurology
Background:
- Thalamic volume loss is a consistent finding in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).
- The thalamus has multiple nuclei with distinct functions, and their differential vulnerability in T1DM is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific patterns of intra-thalamic nuclear atrophy in T1DM.
- To evaluate the association between thalamic atrophy and the duration of T1DM.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 42 T1DM patients and 39 healthy controls.
- 3.0T/T1-weighted MPRAGE MRI scans were analyzed using multi-atlas segmentation to quantify volumes of 20 thalamic nuclei.
- General linear models, partial correlations, and exponential regression were used to assess group differences and duration-related atrophy.
Main Results:
- T1DM patients exhibited significant bilateral reductions in total thalamic volume (7.6-8.0%).
- The most pronounced atrophy was observed in anterior (15.8%), medial (8.6%), and lateral (7.3%) subregions, affecting cognition- and motor-related nuclei.
- Longer disease duration correlated with smaller thalamic volumes and showed accelerated annualized atrophy rates in specific nuclei (e.g., MD-Pf, Pul, LGN).
Conclusions:
- T1DM is linked to heterogeneous atrophy within thalamic nuclei, with anterior, medial, and lateral regions being preferentially affected.
- Disease duration appears to accelerate neurodegenerative processes in the thalamus.
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