Electrophoresis of Muscle Proteins Is Not a Method for Diagnosis of Malignant Hyperthermia Susceptibility

The authors used denaturing polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis, employing 7.5-20% and 15-20% polyacrylamide gradients, to compare total skeletal muscle proteins of 12 normal and 19 malignant hyperthermia (MH)-susceptible individuals. The patients' MH status was determined by contracture testing. No consistent qualitative or quantitative differences could be detected. Because MH is believed to be triggered by a loss of control of sarcoplasmic [Ca2+], the authors compared: 1) the Ca2+-binding proteins of eight normal and ten MH muscles using Ca2+-dependent electrophoretic mobility shifts and a transblot/45CaCl2 overlay technique; and 2) the total protein composition of a heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum fraction isolated from five normal and nine MH muscles. Again, no differences were detected. Finally, a similar electrophoretic study was conducted to compare the total protein composition of five normal and six MH-susceptible, central core disease-affected human muscles. No significant differences could be observed. It appears, therefore, that simple electrophoretic techniques cannot be applied in the diagnosis of MH susceptibility.