Malignant Hyperthermia Essay -- Medical Biology Disease

Malignant Hyperthermia Abstract A patient, waiting to undergo his cardiac surgery, is lying on a surgical platform. An anesthesiologist enters the surgical room and injects some general anesthetics into the patient’s bloodstream. The patient appears normal until after a few minutes, the patient suddenly experiences increasing body temperatures leading to a high fever, muscle rigidity, and increased heart rate. The anesthesiologist is perturbed, runs out of the surgery room, and alerts the surgical staff of the patient’s alarming symptoms. The surgical staff identifies the symptoms as Malignant Hyperthermia. What exactly is Malignant Hyperthermia and how is it caused? Malignant Hyperthermia, a rare skeletal muscular disease found in humans, pigs, horses, and many other animals, is a channelopathy caused by abnormal calcium channels. This paper serves to investigate the problems within the specific ion channels known to cause the disease. The goal of the paper is to understand more about Malignant Hyperthermia and about how particular ion channels associated with the disease operate. Learning about the chemistry behind the disease is crucial in order to prevent future occurrences of Malignant Hyperthermia and to design new treatments. Introduction Malignant hyperthermia is a fatal, inherited disorder that affects less than 200,000 people in the United States. [1] As mentioned in the abstract, Malignant Hyperthermia is channelopathy, or a disease caused by mutations in channel protein genes. Malignant Hyperthermia is triggered by anesthetics, which includes common inhalants, and by medication containing succinylcholine, a substance often used as a muscle relaxant in emergency medicines. [2] After the initial ... ...anodine receptor-Ca2+ release channels in malignant hyperthermia." Biophys J. 73(4) Oct 1997 29. Jul 2008 . [8] Jiang, Dawei, Wenqian Chen1, Jianmin Xiao, Ruiwu Wang, Huihui Kong, Peter P. Jones, Lin Zhang, Bradley Fruen, and S. R. Wayne Chen. "Reduced Threshold for Luminal Ca2+ Activation of RyR1 Underlies a Causal Mechanism of Porcine Malignant Hyperthermia." J. Biol. Chem. Vol. 283, Issue 3025 July 2008. 29 Jul 2008 . [9] Korf, Bruce R. "Korf Genetics." Human Genetics and Genomics . Blackwell Publishing. 29 Jul 2008 . [10] Millar, 2007. Cerebrospinal Fluid Research. 29 Jul 2008 .