Diabetes is associated with increased macrovascular complications, such as coronary artery disease(CAD), strokes(CVA) and peripheral arterial occlusive disease(PAOD), and microvascular complications, such as retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy.

Clinical trials suggest that better control of blood glucose reduced diabetes-associated complications. However, recent evidences showed that the risk of diabetic complications was linked to previous hyperglycemia even when it had been achieved to near-normal glycemic control after aggressive treatment. These raised the concept of "metabolic memory"(新陳代謝記憶) that was referred to the continuing progression of microvascular damage after correction of chronic hyperglycemia in diabetic patients who had initial poor glycemic control.

The metabolic memory may be related to the level of glycation of mitochondrial proteins(粒腺體中醣化終極產物的形成量) and the production of reactive oxidative species(氧化游離基的生成).