[Immunohistochemical studies on neuronal changes in brain stem nucleus of forensic autopsied cases. II. Sudden infant...

Several nuclei in brain stem are well known to play an important role in supporting human life. However, the connection between neural changes of brain stem and the cause of death is not yet fully understood. Previously, in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) it has been suggested that impaired cardioventilatory control might contribute to cause of death. So, to investigate the brain stem damage in SIDS, neural changes of the arcuate nucleus (ARC), the hypoglossal nucleus (HN) and the inferior olivary nucleus (IO) was examined using immunohistochemical technique. Brain was fixed with phosphate-buffer formalin, and the brain stem was horizontally dissected at the level of apex, then embedded in paraffin. The sections were stained with the antibodies against microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), muscalinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), c-fos gene product (c-Fos) and 72 kD heat-shock protein (HSP70). Morphological changes of neurons in three nuclei were not evident. Moreover, because MAP2 degeneration and expression of HSP70 and c-Fos were not observed, neuronal damage in those nuclei was not suspected. However, although there was no abnormality of mAChR immunostaining in HN and IO, the rate of mAChR-immunopositive neurons in ARC was less than that in control. These observations indicate that immunohistochemical study on the neuronal changes in ARC can provide useful information for diagnosing SIDS.