The relationship of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio with cognitive decline in T2DM

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the role of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in cognitive decline in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total number of 261 T2DM patients were enrolled in this study. The T2DM patients were divided into two groups according to the median of PLR (PLR < 96.5, n = 130; PLR >= 96.5, n = 131). Cognitive impairment was defined as Mini-mental State Examination score <= 26. Student's t test and Chi-square test were used to test the difference between the groups, and logistics regression analysis were performed to verify whether high PLR was an independent factor for cognitive impairment. Results: T2DM patients with cognitive impairment had significantly higher PLR level when compared with the simple diabetes group (p = 0.003). Incidence of cognitive impairment was higher in the high PLR group, compared to low PLR group (p = 0.040). Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that PLR was a risk biomarker of cognitive decline in T2DM patients (odds ratio [OR] = 1.010, 95% CI: 1.001-1.018, p = 0.013). Conclusions: We demonstrated that a higher PLR was associated with cognitive decline in T2DM patients. The PLR may help to identify high-risk patients in time and provide clues for further prevention of cognitive dysfunction in T2DM patients.