Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have linked abnormal patterns of certain metabolites in infant blood samples to a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Although further research is needed to confirm the results, the authors say that the findings could potentially lead to ways to screen infants at risk of SIDS and help identify its causes.
The study was conducted by Chad M. Aldridge, D.P.T., MS-CR, Keith L. Keene, Ph.D., Fern R. Hauck, M.D., M.S., and colleagues at the University of Virginia. It appears in eBioMedicine. Funding was provided by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Background
SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a complete investigation, including an autopsy, a death scene review, and complete family and medical histories.
To help identify potential causes and risk factors for SIDS, researchers are leveraging scientific and technological advances. For example, metabolomics is the study of chemical processes involving metabolites, which are small molecules that play a role in metabolism. By using the latest analytical and computational techniques, researchers can identify patterns of metabolites in tissue samples and check if these patterns are associated with SIDS. However, prior studies conducting metabolomic analysis of SIDS cases were small, and their results have not been confirmed by larger studies.
Results
For the current study, researchers conducted a metabolomic analysis on blood samples from 300 infants, including 195 classified as SIDS cases and 105 classified as other causes of death.
The researchers identified higher concentrations of certain metabolite biomarkers in samples from infants who died of SIDS, compared to samples from the other infants. These included metabolites involved in nitrogen metabolism, lipid and fatty acid metabolism, stress response, nerve cell communication, hormone regulation, and the body’s ability to detoxify free radicals (unstable oxygen compounds).
Significance
“The results of this study are very exciting. We are getting closer to explaining the pathways leading to a SIDS death,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Hauck. “Our hope is that this research lays the groundwork to help identify–through simple blood tests–infants who are at higher risk for SIDS and to save these precious lives.”
The authors cautioned that more research is needed to determine if the metabolite patterns discovered in the study contribute to SIDS.
Reference
Aldridge, CM et al. Metabolomic profiles of infants classified as sudden infant death syndrome: a case-control analysis. eBioMedicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105484 (2024)
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