FIGURE 2.

The “gut microbiota‐astrocyte” axis is coupled to the pathogenesis of cognitive dysfunction secondary to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Gut microbes and astrocytes are critical factors in the gut‐brain axis, leading to diabetic cognitive dysfunction through peripheral and central inflammation, gut and blood–brain barriers, and systemic and brain energy metabolism. Gut microbiota and its metabolites as upstream drivers of astrocytic activation. The reactive astrocytes' morphology and function changes result in blood–brain barrier injury, neuroinflammation, and brain energy metabolic disorder.