Catecholamines on SIDS

Article Outline

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Reports of associations between genetic markers in populations and disease are now frequent. The problem is that many of these associations have no apparent biological relevance and often provide no useful hypothesis about pathophysiology. This month in The Journal, Klintschar et al report a strong association between a polymorphism in the tyrosine hydroxylases gene that regulates catecholamine gene expression and SIDS. The polymorphism results in tandem repeat that modulate gene activity and thus catecholamine synthesis. Catecholamines are central to the CHS regulation of respiration as well as stress responses. Thus, this association of a polymorphism with SIDS makes sense biologically and should stimulate further research in the field.