Screening for mutations in the RYR1 gene in families with malignant hyperthermia

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially lethal pharmacogenetic predisposition associated with a susceptibility to volatile anesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants that lead to a fulminant anesthetic crisis with hyperthermia, skeletal muscle rigidity, respiratory and metabolic acidosis, and muscle rhabdomyolysis. Malignant hyperthermia crises are caused by an abnormal regulation of the calcium release mechanism, which reflects the consequences of disturbed skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis. We screened 64 individuals of 27 unrelated families for the most frequently described mutations associated with MH in the genes RYR1 and CACNL1A3. We identified only one family with the Arg614Cys mutation but with a discordant segregating pattern to the in vitro contracture test (IVCT). To elucidate which other mechanism could lead to susceptibility in the members of this family, we tested it for further MH susceptibility loci. The same haplotype was shown to segregate with the individuals carrying the Arg614Cys mutation in chromosome 19; however, the other susceptible and equivocal individuals do not share this haplotype. Markers for the susceptible locus in chromosome regions 17q, 7q, 3q, and 5p did not segregate with the IVCT phenotype in the susceptible individuals, suggesting that the positivity of the IVCT could be attributable to other ambient factors.