Sudden infant death syndrome and sudden intrauterine unexplained death: Correlation between hypoplasia of raphé nuclei and serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism

This study, besides to delineate the cytoarchitecture and the localization in the brainstem of the human raphé nuclei, aims to evaluate the correlation between neuropathological raphé defects and serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) promoter region polymorphisms in a cohort of 28 SIDS victims, 12 sudden intrauterine unexplained deaths (SIUD), and 17 controls. Hypoplasia of one or more nuclei of both the rostral and caudal raphé groups was found in 57% of SIDS, in 67% of SIUD, and only in 12% of controls. Furthermore, a significant correlation among 5-HTT Long (L) allele, hypoplasia of the raphé nuclei, and maternal smoking in pregnancy was observed in sudden fetal and infant deaths. The presence of the L allele represents a predisposing factor for sudden fetal and infant death in association with morphologic developmental defects of the raphé nuclei and prenatal smoke exposure. A further consideration of the authors is that SIUD should not be regarded as a separate entity from SIDS, given the potentially shared neuropathological and genetic bases.