Effect of diabetes on some primitive reflexes

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Endocrinology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Primitive reflexes (PRs) are neurological responses present in infants, typically disappearing with brain maturation.
• Increased PR frequency is observed in certain neurological disorders and in healthy elderly individuals.
• The impact of diabetes on PRs remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus on the frequency of specific primitive reflexes.
• To compare PR occurrence in diabetic patients with and without neurological complications against controls.

Main Methods:

• Examined glabellar tap, snout, and palmomental reflexes in 376 subjects.
• Included normal age-matched controls, patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and patients with type 2 diabetes.
• Diabetic patients were categorized into groups: without neurological complications (D), with CVD (D-CVD), and with polyneuropathy (D-PN).

Main Results:

• Primitive reflexes were more frequent in patients with CVD compared to controls.
• PR frequency was largely unchanged in D-CVD patients, except for the palmomental reflex.
• A significant reduction in PR frequency was observed in diabetic patients (D) and those with diabetic polyneuropathy (D-PN).

Conclusions:

• Type 2 diabetes, particularly with polyneuropathy, is associated with a reduced occurrence of primitive reflexes.
• This reduction may be linked to vascular lesions in the pons, as suggested by pathological studies in diabetic subjects.
• Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise mechanisms underlying these findings.