β-Endorphin: regional levels profile in the brain of the human infant ☆

Abstract Immunoradiometrical determinations of β-endorphin (β-EP) levels in 29 discrete brain regions from a series of victims of “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” yielded a uniformly low levels profile in various areas of telencephalon, thalamus, pons, cerebellum and medulla oblongata. This low levels profile was interrupted by intermediate and high β-EP levels in the midbrain and in two diencephalic zones. This study provides, for the first time, a comprehensive, neurochemically determined regional profile of β-EP levels in the brain of the human infant.