Diabetes and Smelling Identification

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Lietzau G, Nyström T, C Östenson C, Darsalia V, Patrone C.  Type 2 diabetes-induced neuronal pathology in the piriform cortex of the rat is reversed by the GLP-1 receptor agonist exendin-4.  Oncotarget. 5 Jan 2016. 7(5) 5865- 5876. Retrieved from http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path[]=6823.


Neurodegenerative diseases often present themselves as difficulty identifying specific odors. This article investigated the connection between neurological disorders and diabetes through the symptom of olfactory dysfunction.  Looking at type 2 diabetic rats, researchers were trying to figure out the nerve cells responsible for these smelling difficulties.  What they found were alteration in a group of nerve cells called inter-neurons, located in the area of the brain associated with identifying odor and coding (the piriform cortex). It was also found that these altercations could be counteracted pharmacological by clinically used anti-diabetic drugs (which enhances glucagon-like peptide 1 production).  

This research is useful in preventing neurological diseases from happening in diabetic patients, such as Alzheimer’s disease.  Also, this article supports the need to screen diabetic patients for these neurological diseases by performing a smell test. Olfactory dysfunction is one of the first symptoms of neurological problems, so recognizing this is these patients is an advantage to health professionals, whom can then counteract this altercation with anti-diabetic drugs.  

DG

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