SIDS: The Effect of In Utero Cigarette Smoke Exposure

PEDIATRIC ALLERGY, IMMUNOLOGY, AND PULMONOLOGY

Volume 23, Number 3, 2010

Hemant Sawnani, M.D., Erik Olsen, B.E., and Narong Simakajornboon, M.D.

Maternal cigarette smoking is the most modifiable risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome. Although the

mechanism underlying the association between maternal smoking and sudden infant death syndrome is unknown,

the effect of

important causative mechanism. In human, several studies have linked maternal smoking and alterations in

breathing pattern, ventilatory, and arousal responses in infants during the early postnatal age. Cigarette contains

many compounds, but nicotine has been identified as the main culprit underlying changes in respiratory control.

Further investigations in animal models have demonstrated that perinatal nicotine exposure results in alteration

in baseline ventilation, ventilatory response to hypoxia, arousals, and autoresuscitation processes in developing

animals. The mechanisms underlying the effect of nicotine exposure on respiratory control may be related to

modulation of neurotransmitters and signal transductions mediating ventilatory control and arousal responses.

Findings from these studies will help to understand how perinatal cigarette smoke exposure interferes with

respiratory control development, and may lead to more effective preventive strategies and therapeutic intervention

for this significant health problem.
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ped.2010.0036in utero cigarette smoke exposure on respiratory control development is speculated as the