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Investigating Serotonins Role in SIDS

Scientific American - Posted: October 14th, 2008, 1:00am EDT

pThe leading cause of infant death in developed countries, sudden infant death syndrome, is still largely a medical mystery. Past studies have revealed that in the brain stems of more than half of infants who die from SIDS, the neurons that produce serotonin--a chemical responsible for regulating heart rate, body temperature and mood--are overly prevalent and abnormally shaped. Until now, no one has known how these problems might cause death, but a July 4 Science study reveals clues about what might be going wrong in SIDS and how doctors might prevent it./ppMood researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, were investigating how serotonin levels affected anxiety-related behavior in mice when they got a surprise. They bred the mice to have too many 5-HT1A receptors, which are known to signal neurons to slow down the release of serotonin when the chemical is abundant in the brain. Having more receptors ultimately lowers serotonin levels and overall serotonin activity./p a href=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=serotonin-and-sids[More]/a

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