The correlation between ubiquitin in the brainstem and sleep apnea in SIDS victims.
BACKGROUND
The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is still the main cause of postneonatal infant death and its etiology has stimulated many competing theories, among which is the role of hypoxia and brainstem abnormalities. One report claims an increased in ubiquitin in the liver of SIDS victims, ubiquitin being one of the heat-shock proteins. The correlation between ubiquitin in the brainstem and sleep apnea in SIDS was investigated here.


METHODS
Among 27,000 infants studied prospectively to characterize their sleep-wake behavior, 38 infants died under 6 months of age, including 26 cases of SIDS. All the infants had been recorded during one night in a pediatric sleep laboratory some 3-12 weeks before death. The frequency and duration of sleep apnea were analyzed. Brainstem material was collected at autopsy and examined immunohistochemically for ubiquitin. The density of ubiquitin-positive elements was measured semiquantitatively. Correlation analyses were carried out between the density of ubiquitin-positive elements and the data on sleep apnea.


RESULTS
In the victims of SIDS, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between the density of ubiquitin-positive neuronal factors in the pons and the frequency of obstructive apnea (p=0.001) and statistically significant negative correlations were seen between the density of ubiquitin-positive cells in the ependyma in the pons and the duration of obstructive apnea (p=0.044) and between the density of ubiquitin-positive cells in the subependyma in the medulla and the frequency of central apnea (p=0.024).


CONCLUSIONS
It was found that three significant associations existed between the pathological data referring to ubiquitin and physiological data in SIDS victims. These facts are in agreements with the association of sleep apnea in SIDS.
Sawaguchi
Toshiko
T
Department of Legal Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan. tsawagu@research.twmu.ac.jp
Patricia
Franco
F
Kadhim
Hazim
H
Groswasser
Jose
J
Sottiaux
Martine
M
Nishida
Hiroshi
H
Kahn
Andre
A
D001933:Brain Stem / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017286:Polysomnography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016683:Supine Position; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism*
D025801:Ubiquitin