The role of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes

Diabetic cognitive dysfunction (DCD) is mainly one of the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with complex and obscure pathogenesis. Extensive evidence has demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for DCD management. This review attempted to systematically summarize the possible pathogenesis of DCD and the current Chinese medicine on the treatment of DCD. We acquired information of TCM on DCD treatment from PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct and CNKI databases. We then dissected the potential mechanisms of currently reported TCMs and their active ingredients for the treatment of DCD by discussing the deficiencies and giving further recommendations. Most TCMs and their active ingredients could improve DCD through alleviating insulin resistance, microvascular dysfunction, abnormal gut microbiota composition, inflammation, and the damages of the blood-brain barrier, cerebrovascular and neurons under hyperglycemia conditions. TCM is effective in the treatment of DCD with few adverse reactions. A large number of in vivo and in vitro, and clinical trials are still needed to further reveal the potential quality markers of TCM on DCD treatment.