Glycemic control is not related to cerebral small vessel disease in neurologically asymptomatic individuals with type 1 diabetes

AIMS: To determine if medium- and long-term blood glucose control as well as glycemic variability, which are known to be strong predictors of vascular complications, are associated with underlying cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) in neurologically asymptomatic individuals with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: A total of 189 individuals (47.1% men; median age 40.0, IQR 33.0–45.2 years) with type 1 diabetes (median diabetes duration of 21.7, IQR 18.3–30.7 years) were enrolled in a cross-sectional retrospective study, as part of the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) values were collected over the course of ten years before the visit including a clinical examination, biochemical sampling, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Markers of glycemic control, measured during the visit, included HbA(1c), fructosamine, and glycated albumin. RESULTS: Signs of cSVD were present in 66 (34.9%) individuals. Medium- and long-term glucose control and glycemic variability did not differ in individuals with signs of cSVD compared to those without. Further, no difference in any of the blood glucose variables and cSVD stratified for cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) or white matter hyperintensities were detected. Neither were numbers of CMBs associated with the studied glucose variables. Additionally, after dividing the studied variables into quartiles, no association with cSVD was observed. CONCLUSIONS: We observed no association between glycemic control and cSVD in neurologically asymptomatic individuals with type 1 diabetes. This finding was unexpected considering the large number of signs of cerebrovascular pathology in these people after two decades of chronic hyperglycemia and warrants further studies searching for underlying factors of cSVD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00592-021-01821-8.