Low cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin levels during sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) risk period

The temporal association between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and sleep suggests that the arousability from sleep provides a protective mechanism for survival. Recently, the hypocretin system, which promotes wakefulness, has been implicated in SIDS, since it has been reported that SIDS victims have fewer hypocretin neurons than infants who have died from other causes. To understand the role of hypocretin in SIDS, it is essential to better understand how this system matures. The present study compared cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hypocretin in children aged 2-6 months, which is the age of peak incidence for SIDS, to both younger and older children.

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