"Lino Rossi" Research Center for the Study and Prevention of Unexpected Perinatal Death and SIDS, Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, 20122 Milano, Italy.
Lahore Medical Research Center, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 25;25(13):6920. doi: 10.3390/ijms25136920.
This study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the potential role of the gigantocellular nucleus, a component of the reticular formation, in the pathogenetic mechanism of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), an event frequently ascribed to failure to arouse from sleep. This research was motivated by previous experimental studies demonstrating the gigantocellular nucleus involvement in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. We analyzed the brains of 48 infants who died suddenly within the first 7 months of life, including 28 SIDS cases and 20 controls. All brains underwent a thorough histological and immunohistochemical examination, focusing specifically on the gigantocellular nucleus. This examination aimed to characterize its developmental cytoarchitecture and tyrosine hydroxylase expression, with particular attention to potential associations with SIDS risk factors. In 68% of SIDS cases, but never in controls, we observed hypoplasia of the pontine portion of the gigantocellular nucleus. Alterations in the catecholaminergic system were present in 61% of SIDS cases but only in 10% of controls. A strong correlation was observed between these findings and maternal smoking in SIDS cases when compared with controls. In conclusion we believe that this study sheds new light on the pathogenetic processes underlying SIDS, particularly in cases associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy.
这项研究首次旨在探讨巨细胞核对婴儿猝死综合征（SIDS）发病机制的潜在作用，SIDS 是一种经常归因于睡眠中无法醒来的事件。这项研究的灵感来自先前的实验研究，表明巨细胞核对调节睡眠-觉醒周期的参与。我们分析了 48 名在生命的前 7 个月内突然死亡的婴儿的大脑，包括 28 例 SIDS 病例和 20 例对照。所有大脑都进行了彻底的组织学和免疫组织化学检查，特别关注巨细胞核对其的影响。这项检查旨在描述其发育细胞结构和酪氨酸羟化酶的表达，特别关注与 SIDS 风险因素的潜在关联。在 68%的 SIDS 病例中，但从未在对照组中，我们观察到巨细胞核对桥脑部分的发育不全。在 61%的 SIDS 病例中但在 10%的对照组中存在儿茶酚胺能系统的改变。与对照组相比，当将这些发现与 SIDS 病例中的母亲吸烟进行比较时，观察到了强烈的相关性。总之，我们认为这项研究为 SIDS 的发病机制提供了新的见解，特别是在与怀孕期间母亲吸烟有关的病例中。
