Three primitive reflexes in HIV-1-infected individuals: a possible clinical marker of early central nervous system involvement.

Abstract

We studied one hundred and six neurologically asymptomatic HIV-1-seropositive patients, mostly drug abusers, in various stages of HIV-1 infection to evaluate the frequency of three primitive reflexes: snout, palmomental, and glabellar. We also examined one hundred HIV-1-seronegative drug abusers and one hundred healthy heterosexual individuals. We observed the presence of one or more primitive reflexes in 41% of HIV-1-seropositive subjects, in 8% of HIV-1-seronegative drug abusers and in 3% of healthy individuals. We elicited more than one primitive reflex in 22% of patients, but never among the subjects of the two control groups. The associations of multiple reflexes were significantly more frequent in the most severe CDC stages. Our observations suggest that including evaluation of primitive reflexes in a standard neurologic examination may be useful in screening for early non specific cerebral dysfunction in neurologically asymptomatic HIV-1-seropositive subjects.