TRPV1 variants impair intracellular Ca 2+ signaling and may confer susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia

Purpose Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disorder arising from uncontrolled muscle calcium release due to an abnormality in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium-release mechanism triggered by halogenated inhalational anesthetics. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are still incomplete. Methods We aimed to identify transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 ( TRPV1 ) variants within the entire coding sequence in patients who developed sensitivity to MH of unknown etiology. In vitro and in vivo functional studies were performed in heterologous expression system, trpv1 −/− mice, and a murine model of human MH. Results We identified TRPV1 variants in two patients and their heterologous expression in muscles of trpv1 −/− mice strongly enhanced calcium release from SR upon halogenated anesthetic stimulation, suggesting they could be responsible for the MH phenotype. We confirmed the in vivo significance by using mice with a knock-in mutation (Y524S) in the type I ryanodine receptor (Ryr1), a mutation analogous to the Y522S mutation associated with MH in humans. We showed that the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine slows the heat-induced hypermetabolic response in this model. Conclusion We propose that TRPV1 contributes to MH and could represent an actionable therapeutic target for prevention of the pathology and also be responsible for MH sensitivity when mutated.