Catecholaminergic neurons in the brain-stem and sleep apnea in SIDS victims.
BACKGROUND
Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is a specific marker for catecholaminergic neurones. Some reports have demonstrated a decrease of TH in the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) compared with controls. To further investigate this, the correlation between TH and sleep apnea was investigated here.


METHODS
Among 27,000 infants studied prospectively to characterize their sleep-wake behavior, 38 infants died under 6 months of age. They included 26 cases of SIDS. All the infants had been recorded during one night in a pediatric sleep laboratory some 3 to 12 weeks before death. The frequency and the duration of sleep apnea were analyzed. The brain stem material was collected and subjected to immunohistochemical studies for TH. The density of TH-immunoreactive neurons was measured in the nucleus hypoglossus, nervus vagus dorsalis, solitary and ambiguous and the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) in the medulla oblongata. Correlation analyses were carried out between the density of TH-immunoreactive neurons and the data from the sleep apnea studies.


RESULTS
There was no SIDS specific correlation between TH-immunoreactive neurons in the nucleus hypoglossus, nervus vagus dorsalis, solitary and ambiguous and the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) in the medulla oblongata and the frequency and duration of sleep apnea.


CONCLUSIONS
No significant association between the pathological data and the physiological data refers to TH positive neurons in the medulla oblongata in SIDS victims.
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
Ozawa
Yuri
Y
Patricia
Franco
F
Kadhim
Hazim
H
Groswasser
Jose
J
Sottiaux
Martine
M
Takashima
Sachio
S
Nishida
Hiroshi
H
Kahn
Andre
A
D001933:Brain Stem / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / 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; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
D002395:Catecholamines; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase