Testosterone Level Linked to SIDS

In a new study, a postmortem blood analysis showed that male babies who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) had testosterone levels that were much higher than those of control babies.

The study involved 127 SIDS autopsies and 42 controls. The SIDS males had testosterone levels that were 120% higher than the male controls. Testosterone levels in female SIDS babies were 50% higher than the female controls. Estradiol levels, on the other hand, were not significant in either group. The findings were reported in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

The authors noted that earlier evidence in animal models and human studies had suggested that elevated testosterone levels may be linked to breathing that is depressed in sleep.

"Testosterone administration decreases ventilation and ventilatory drive during sleep in adult humans and infant primates,” wrote Michael J. Emery, Ph.D., of the University of Washington (Seattle, USA; www.washington.edu), and colleagues, "and increased androgen levels are associated with sleep-disordered breathing in human adult males and females.” These results might explain a mechanism to a condition with no known biologic cause, they said.

The authors also noted that there is "a striking coincidence” between postnatal rises in the sex hormones and the age range of risk for SIDS, with both peaking between one and five months of age. They acknowledged that their study sample was small and that more research is needed to understand the relationship between high testosterone and SIDS.




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