Mice who overproduced the brain chemical showed symptoms similar to those of the infant syndrome before they died. By Wendy Hansen, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Mice genetically engineered to overproduce the brain chemical serotonin died at an early...

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may be attributed to disturbance in the regulation of brain chemical serotonin, said researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy.

Serotonin is an neurotransmitter that transmits signals between brain cells. It is mostly associated with moods.

Published in the July 4 issue of Science, the research suggests that any alterations in normal serotonin level may generate changes in heart rate and body temperature, as were produced in mice during the study.

"This mouse model is important. Causing dysfunction in brainstem serotonin can lead to death in a majority of affected animals," Marian Willinger, a SIDS expert with the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said at a press conference Thursday.

The severe cardiac and thermal variations that occurred in the mice are parallel to risk factors associated with SIDS.

Sweltering babies by over-bundling them is a known risk factor for SIDS as is stomach sleeping, which causes higher heart rate alterations than back sleeping.

About 2,500 infants die suddenly each year, in the U.S. alone. It is the third leading cause of death among infants aged between a week and a year.

Exact causes of the SIDS have not been identified yet. Some previous studies...
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