On 27 January, the RECOGNISED project (Retinal and cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes: unravelling the common pathways and identification of patients at risk of dementia) held its kick-off meeting in Barcelona, Spain. RECOGNISED is a 4-year consortium project funded by the European Union though its Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation framework programme. Coordinated by Professor Rafael Simo from the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) in Barcelona, RECOGNISED brings together 21 project partners from academia, SMEs and patient organisations, including Alzheimer Europe and the International Diabetes Federation – Europe (IDFE).
In recent years, several studies have shown that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. For example, people with T2DM have a 2-fold higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) when compared to their nondiabetic peers. Recent studies also suggest that T2DM can act as an accelerator of dementia in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Alongside, growing evidence has shown that neurodegeneration of the retina is an early event in the development of diabetic retinopathy, a clinical complication of diabetes that leads to vision loss. Interestingly, researchers have also shown that people with MCI or dementia have detectably different retinas, with fewer retinal blood vessels than their unaffected peers. The RECOGNISED project has been designed to build on these findings, aiming to evaluate whether non-invasive retinal tests could be used to identify T2DM patients who are at a higher risk of developing MCI and dementia.
To achieve this goal, the RECOGNISED consortium has set out two key project objectives: firstly, to investigate the common mechanisms that cause diabetic retinopathy and cognitive impairment in T2DM; and secondly, to use the retina as a tool to identify individuals with T2DM at a higher risk of developing cognitive decline or dementia. Using mouse models of T2DM and AD, RECOGNISED partners will dissect the biological mechanisms that drive retinal dysfunction in these comorbid conditions, using advanced molecular techniques to study the diverse range of cell types that make up the retina and its neurovasculature. Using this knowledge, RECOGNISED will undertake detailed clinical studies to assess retinal structure and function alongside neuropsychological and brain imaging tests, aiming to stratify the risk and severity of cognitive decline in the T2DM population. RECOGNISED will also use previously collected data and samples from registries, cohorts and biobanks to extend these observations to the wider population, aiming to guide new clinical recommendations and open up new therapeutic strategies.
Angela Bradshaw represented Alzheimer Europe at the RECOGNISED project kick-off meeting. The RECOGNISED project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 847749.
