title: Mannan binding lectin and the sudden infant death syndrome.
abstract: Mannan binding lectin (MBL) may be important for innate immunity and some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may be preceded by bacterial infection. Therefore, relative MBL deficiency might be associated with susceptibility to SIDS. We measured MBL concentrations in 46 SIDS infants and 26 controls. The proportion of subjects with low MBL values was similar in the two groups. However, the mean for the SIDS group (3 micrograms/ml) was higher than that of the controls (2.2 micrograms/ml; P < 0.05). We interpret this difference as due to acute phase responses and suggest these findings are consistent with the view that some cot deaths are preceded by bacterial infections.
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit, Blood Transfusion Service, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Hallam
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Busuttil
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D037222:Collectins; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008351:Mannans / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D037222:Collectins; D037102:Lectins; D008351:Mannans