Nicotine exposure and the risk of SIDS.

The effects of parental smoking and nicotine exposure link a number of seemingly independent observations in SIDS research. There is accumulating evidence that fetal development and wellbeing are closely related to the subsequent risk of SIDS in the offspring. Furthermore, it appears that this risk is related, in particular, to alterations in brain development. The risk of dying of SIDS may thus, in reality, be confined to a limited number of infants with developmental changes in CNS function. Our findings of age-specific attenuation of hypoxic defense following nicotine exposure focus the attention on brain catecholamine metabolism as a potential target for adverse fetal and neonatal influences. To clarify the mechanisms of nicotine exposure on postnatal development of the control of respiration and cardiovascular control may thus offer insights into the ultimate mechanism of SIDS.