COULD a lack of serotonin play a role in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)? A new study in mice points the finger of suspicion at the neurotransmitter that regulates moods.
A team led by Cornelius Gross of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, studied mice genetically engineered to release normal amounts of serotonin in their brainstems only if given an antibiotic.
When the team stopped giving the drug to 40-day-old mice, causing a reduction in serotonin release, 90 per cent of the animals died in their sleep during the next 120 days.
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The mice that died also showed fluctuations in heart rate and body temperature similar to those recorded in babies who died from SIDS while being monitored because they were born prematurely (Science, ).
