Cargando…
Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the unexpected sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. The SIDS pathogenesis is still unknown; however, abnormalities in brain centers that control breathing and arousal from sleep,...
Autor principal: | |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8615170/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34829763 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111534 |
_version_ | 1784604039946698752 |
---|---|
author | Lavezzi, Anna Maria |
author_facet | Lavezzi, Anna Maria |
author_sort | Lavezzi, Anna Maria |
collection | PubMed |
description | Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the unexpected sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. The SIDS pathogenesis is still unknown; however, abnormalities in brain centers that control breathing and arousal from sleep, including dramatic changes in neurotransmitter levels, have been supposed in these deaths. This is the first study focusing on mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons, so far extensively studied only in animals and human neurological diseases, in SIDS. Dopaminergic structures in midbrain sections of a large series of sudden infant deaths (36 SIDS and 26 controls) were identified using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine biosynthesis, and the dopamine transporter, a membrane protein specifically expressed in dopaminergic cells. Dopamine-immunolabeled neurons were observed concentrated in two specific structures: the pars compacta of the substantia nigra and in the subnucleus medialis of the periaqueductal gray matter. Anatomical and functional degenerations of dopaminergic neurons in these regions were observed in most SIDS cases but never in controls. These results indicate that dopamine depletion, which is already known to be linked especially to Parkinson’s disease, is strongly involved even in SIDS pathogenesis. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8615170 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-86151702021-11-26 Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis Lavezzi, Anna Maria Biomedicines Article Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the unexpected sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation. The SIDS pathogenesis is still unknown; however, abnormalities in brain centers that control breathing and arousal from sleep, including dramatic changes in neurotransmitter levels, have been supposed in these deaths. This is the first study focusing on mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons, so far extensively studied only in animals and human neurological diseases, in SIDS. Dopaminergic structures in midbrain sections of a large series of sudden infant deaths (36 SIDS and 26 controls) were identified using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine biosynthesis, and the dopamine transporter, a membrane protein specifically expressed in dopaminergic cells. Dopamine-immunolabeled neurons were observed concentrated in two specific structures: the pars compacta of the substantia nigra and in the subnucleus medialis of the periaqueductal gray matter. Anatomical and functional degenerations of dopaminergic neurons in these regions were observed in most SIDS cases but never in controls. These results indicate that dopamine depletion, which is already known to be linked especially to Parkinson’s disease, is strongly involved even in SIDS pathogenesis. MDPI 2021-10-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8615170/ /pubmed/34829763 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111534 Text en © 2021 by the author. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Lavezzi, Anna Maria Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title | Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title_full | Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title_fullStr | Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title_full_unstemmed | Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title_short | Altered Development of Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons in SIDS: New Insights into Understanding Sudden Infant Death Pathogenesis |
title_sort | altered development of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons in sids: new insights into understanding sudden infant death pathogenesis |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8615170/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34829763 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111534 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT lavezziannamaria altereddevelopmentofmesencephalicdopaminergicneuronsinsidsnewinsightsintounderstandingsuddeninfantdeathpathogenesis |