Mice genetically engineered to overproduce the brain chemical serotonin died at an early age after developing symptoms similar to those of sudden infant death syndrome, suggesting improper regulation of serotonin may cause SIDS in humans.
Most of the mice died after being unable to regulate their heart rate and body temperature, scientists reported Friday in the journal Science.
Dr. Cornelius Gross, a study author and head of the project at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, said the work might prompt clinical research "to devise diagnostic tests to try to identify those kids most likely to . . . die of SIDS."
SIDS is a condition in which seemingly healthy babies between 1 month and 1 year old die without warning or explanation. It kills approximately 2,700 infants in the U.S. each year.
The mice were part of a study on serotonin's role in aggression and anxiety, but after they began dying, a scientist suggested the deaths might be related to SIDS.
"This was a chance discovery," Gross said.
Serotonin, in addition to affecting mood, regulates bodily functions such as temperature, respiration and heart rate.
The findings support autopsy-based results reported from 2006 in which researchers from Children's Hospital Boston, led by Dr. Hannah Kinney, found that infants who died of SIDS had abnormal serotonin-producing cells in their brain stems.
Although differences exist between the mice and babies who die of SIDS, both reports point to improper regulation of the serotonin system as a cause of the disorder, the researchers said.
"The main impact is if you produce a very specific deficit in the serotonin system, you get a disastrous result," said Dr. Gene Nattie, a professor of physiology at Dartmouth Medical School, who worked with Kinney. "That's why the paper is important. It's certainly a big step forward."
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"both reports point to improper regulation of the serotonin system as a cause..."
The implication being a drug to regulate the serotonin system is called for to "cure" it.
Many of the modern anti-depressants affect and to some degree regulate the serotonin system - thus big Pharma already has drug entities available on which they would no doubt LOVE to obtain a patent for use on infants. What a flood of money it would bring them. And just coincidentally the damage it would likely cause to the infants so treated (based on effects anti-depressants have on neurological development, among other toxicities) will set up the infants for a need for a lifetime of medical treatment to address the damage done.
Newer research (or rather, apparently not so new research that has been keep out of public domain) casts real doubt on the effectiveness of these serotonin system drugs for depression even tho' the drugs do have verifiable effects on serotonin and serotonin is, to some degree, linked to depression. Apparently, affecting the serotonin system does not ameliorate depression like the big Pharma models say it should.
This being so, why would we expect this type of drug approach to work for SIDS, which may be linked, in some cases, to some degree, to the serotonin system.
It's clear to me that this work opens up a huge pipeline that big Pharma can use to shove more newly patented drugs onto the unsuspecting public.
Perhaps more to the point, the research does not try to address the underlying reasons the serotonin system goes out of whack, nor does it address the real dangers of trying to "fix" the serotonin system in developing infants.