South Australian SIDS study finds infant death link to brain chemical

A BREAKTHROUGH South Australian study is giving families with babies hope the key to unlocked the causes of sudden infant death syndrome is one step closer.

A BREAKTHROUGH South Australian study is giving families with babies hope the key to unlock the causes of sudden infant death syndrome is one step closer.

The first of its kind research has confirmed a link between serotonin, a chemical commonly found in the brain, and babies who died of SIDS.

SIDS is the sudden unexpected death of an infant under 12 months of age that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation.

Dr Fiona Bright, a PhD graduate from the University of Adelaide, investigated 41 Australian cases of SIDS deaths and discovered striking abnormalities in the levels of serotonin - a chemical that regulates sleep and controls a person’s cardiovascular and respiratory system from the brain - in the children who died of the syndrome.

The theory has previously been proved in an American SIDS study but it is the first time Australian SIDS cases were investigated.

“Our research is significant because it has confirmed that abnormalities in serotonin in the brain are most definitely linked to cases of SIDS,” Dr Bright said.

“This helps to support the findings of the American research.”

Dr Bright, who analysed human tissue recovered from the autopsies of Australian children who died of the syndrome, said the research was a positive step forward in solving the tragedy of SIDS deaths.

“We know from investigating these deaths that something goes wrong (to children) during their sleep,” she said.

Dr Bright said she hoped the research could be used to develop a “screening mechanism”, such as a blood test which would determine the serotonin levels in a child’s brain at birth, to prevent deaths in the future.

The 27-year-old conducted the latest research, published in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she was based for 18 months.

The research was funded by River’s Gift, an Australian charity that funds world-leading SIDS studies with the aim of finding a cure.