title: Genetics of the sudden infant death syndrome.
abstract: The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is currently defined as "the sudden unexpected death of an infant less than 1 year of age with onset of the fatal episode apparently occurring during sleep, that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation". SIDS, whose etiology remains rather vague, is still the major cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age in industrialized countries with varying incidences in different populations. Herein, after touching on definitory approaches and several current hypotheses concerning SIDS etiology, we focus on the triple risk model of SIDS and discuss two large classes of genetic factors potentially contributing to or predisposing for the generation of a vulnerable infant that, when encountering an environmental trigger, may succumb to SIDS. We conclude by acknowledging that for the integration of the vast and complex genetic evidence concerning SIDS, a lot more research will be required and we briefly discuss the potential use of recently presented animal models for functional studies of SIDS pathology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. cornelius.courts@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Courts
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Madea
mesh_terms: D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000172:deficiency; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008052:Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics; D008133:Long QT Syndrome / Q000235:genetics; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D062554:NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D062554:NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D015221:Potassium Channels; C568320:SCN5A protein, human; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D015222:Sodium Channels; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase