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Coincidence of different structures of mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) in the respiratory tract of children: no indications for enhanced mucosal immunostimulation in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) is the principal inductive site for mucosal immune responses that are capable of T and B cell responses and antigen‐specific responses. In previous independent studies different structures of MALT, e.g. bronchus‐, larynx‐ and nose‐associated lymphoid tissue (BALT, LALT, NALT) have been described separately in various frequencies in the human respiratory tract over life spans. Because upper respiratory tract infections are common in infants, dysregulations of mucosal immune responses might be seriously involved in the aetiology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In the present study the coincidental occurrence of the three different MALT structures in the respiratory tract within the same patients were studied, and cases of SIDS and children who had died from different traumatic and natural causes of death (non‐SIDS) were compared. First, the frequency of BALT and LALT in 46 children (35 SIDS, 11 non‐SIDS) with or without NALT were examined. A tendency was found of a coincidence of respiratory MALT structures. In 50 additional cases of infant death (30 SIDS, 20 non‐SIDS) from the multi‐centric German Study on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (GeSID) where death had occurred in the first year of life, the coincidence was evaluated. A coincidental occurrence of BALT, LALT and NALT or BALT and LALT (each about 30%) was found in both groups, whereby the coincidence in SIDS and the control patients did not differ. Interestingly, the children with coincidental MALT were strikingly older, supporting the hypothesis of respiratory MALT formation via environmental stimulation over time.