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*Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale and
Service dAnatomie Pathologique, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Marseille, France;
Groupement de Recherche en Econométrie Quantitative dAix-Marseille, Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, France; and
Service dAnesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital dInstruction des Armées de Laveran, Marseille, France
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Professor Patrick J. Cozzone, Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, UMR CNRS n° 6612, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, 27, Bd J. Moulin 13005, Marseille, France. Address e-mail to patrick .cozzone{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr
| Abstract |
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IMPLICATIONS: 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy of forearm muscles in subjects having developed exertional heat stroke shows a failure in muscle energetics and suggests a possible link with malignant hyperthermia.
| Introduction |
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Because of some similarities between MH and EHS, it could be hypothesized that EHS, in the same way as MH, is associated with the existence of an infraclinical myopathy. In this respect, electromyographic (3), histologic, and metabolic studies have provided conflicting and scanty results. In this study, we analyzed the physiologic (by using in vitro contracture tests) and metabolic (by using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy [MRS]) bases of EHS. We addressed the issue of possible etiologic similarity between the group of EHS subjects and MH susceptible (MHS) subjects for whom a noninvasive diagnostic strategy has been reported (4).
| Methods |
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IVCTs were performed on muscle biopsies as previously described and in accordance with the protocol recommended by the European Malignant Hyperpyrexia Group (EMHG) (4,5). Subjects were recognized as MHS if the results of both contracture tests (halothane and caffeine) were positive. In addition, and according to the recommendations of the EMHG, a ryanodine contracture test was performed by using 1 µM of high-purity ryanodine as previously described (6).
Muscle samples for morphological analyses were 1) snap-frozen in isopentane precooled in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C until use; 2) placed in formaldehyde fixative and paraffin-embedded for routine histology; and 3) fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate-buffered saline, postfixed with 1% osmic acid, and embedded in araldite for conventional transmission electron microscopy. Ultrathin sections were double-stained with uranyl and lead citrate. Histoenzymology was performed on serial transverse cryostat sections (6 µm thick) and stained by routine histochemical methods as previously described (7). Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin-phloxine-saffron and Masson trichrome. Ultra-thin sections were examined with a Jeol 100 C electron microscope (Jeol Co., Tokyo, Japan).
Magnetic resonance spectra of forearm flexor muscles were recorded at 4.7 teslas (Bruker Biospec System, Karlsruhe, Germany) throughout rest-exercise (finger flexions)-recovery protocols, as previously reported (4,8,9). Spectra were time-averaged over 1 min (32 scans) and sequentially recorded during 3 min of rest, 3 min of exercise, and 20 min of recovery. Exercise was successively performed under aerobic and ischemic conditions. A resting period of at least 2 h was allowed between the two exercise periods. All subjects performed both protocols in the same order. The protocol under ischemia involved the application of a sphygmomanometer over the upper arm; this was inflated, just before the start of exercise, above the maximum arterial pressure to achieve circulatory occlusion during the exercise period. At the end of exercise, the pressure was quickly released.
Metabolite concentrations were obtained from peak areas of phosphorus metabolite signals, including creatine phosphate (PCr), inorganic phosphate (Pi), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and phosphomonoesters (PME, mainly corresponding to glucose 6-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate), as previously described (10). Relative concentrations of phosphorus metabolites were expressed with respect to [PCr] measured at rest (100%). Intracellular pH was calculated from the chemical shift of Pi relative to PCr at -2.45 ppm with respect to 85% H3PO4 (11). [PCr] recovery was fitted to an exponential function as follows (12):
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where t is time in minutes and [PCr] refers to PCr relative concentration. "Rest" and "cons" subscripts denote, respectively, level at rest and level at the end of exercise minus level at rest (percentage of [PCr] content at rest). The kinetic constant (k) is expressed per minute. Also, the initial rate of postexercise [PCr] recovery (Vi) was calculated from the time-zero derivative of the previous equation as follows:
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To provide quantitative information about the distribution of each variable, values in tables and figures are presented as mean ± SD. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with general linear models have been performed to analyze the metabolic changes recorded in each group during the transitions from rest to exercise and from exercise to rest and to compare these changes between the two groups. The general linear models procedure of the SAS software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) options REPEATED, LSMEANS, and CONTRAST were used. Each test was performed for [PCr], [PME], and pH during both protocols.
For each group, one-way ANOVA with repeated measures (the repeated factor being time) was used to analyze the metabolic changes during exercise. The F test was performed to determine the overall effect of time on metabolite concentrations and pH throughout exercise. Then, multiple comparisons procedures (Scheffé contrasts) were used to compare each value of pH, [PCr], or [PME] recorded throughout the exercise period with its respective basal value measured at rest. The same procedure was applied for the analysis of [PCr], [PME], and pH during the postexercise recovery period.
Between-groups (MHN versus EHS) comparative analyses of metabolite concentrations and pH time-dependent changes during exercise and recovery were performed by using two-way ANOVAs with repeated measures (the repeated variable being time). Wilks
tests were performed to analyze the effects of time and the interaction between time and groups. Post hoc repeated comparisons (Scheffé contrasts) were performed to analyze the between-group differences for the averaged values of pH and metabolite concentrations. The significance level for testing hypotheses was set at 0.05.
On the basis of the selection of 19 MRS variables recorded or calculated during both protocols, we previously formulated a diagnostic test with 100% specificity and sensitivity for subjects unequivocally diagnosed as MHS from in vitro contracture tests (4). Briefly, this test involves counting the number of abnormal values (MRS score) recorded among the 19 variables. A subject was classified as MHS when he or she displayed more than two abnormalities. This classification was also used for EHS subjects.
| Results |
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The [PCr] and pH time-dependent changes recorded throughout both exercises (normoxic and ischemic) were qualitatively similar and illustrate the balance between ATP production from aerobic and anaerobic pathways (Fig. 2). The magnitude of these modifications was always larger under ischemic conditions because of reduced oxygen supply (13,14). During the first minute of exercise, no significant pH decrease was observed for MHN subjects (Table 1). Throughout the remainder of exercise, pH continuously decreased as a sign of anaerobic ATP production. The [PCr] decrease with respect to time evidenced ATP production from PCr hydrolysis, and the rate was minimal at the third minute of exercise. An accumulation of PME was noted as a result of the imbalance between glycogen phosphorylase and phosphofructokinase activities (10). ATP homeostasis was maintained during exercise.
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Recovery profiles of [PCr] and pH recorded under aerobic conditions after both types of exercise are displayed in Figure 3. The generation of protons coupled to aerobic PCr resynthesis accounted for the postexercise acidosis noted in the MHN group (Fig. 3). This additional acidosis was not statistically different between EHS and control subjects. The initial rate of [PCr] recovery, calculated from the monoexponential fit, did not reveal any differences between groups (Fig. 3). In both groups, the kinetics of recovery were faster for higher end-of-exercise pH values, as expected (9).
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According to the diagnostic test of MHS subjects previously reported (4) and described in Methods, we have classified the EHS subjects. Nineteen subjects (73%) displayed a MRS score larger than 2 (averaging 6), suggesting that they may be MHS. They were referred to as EHS I. The remainder (seven subjects; EHS II) had MRS scores lower than 2, thereby excluding their susceptibility to MH. It is interesting to note that results of IVCT were significantly different between those two subgroups of EHS subjects (Table 2). Contracture developed upon exposure to halothane was similar in both groups, whereas the intensity of caffeine-induced contracture was twice as large in EHS I as compared with EHS II (Table 2). In addition, the onset of contracture upon exposure to ryanodine was also significantly earlier in EHS I.
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| Discussion |
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Positivity of IVCT clearly confirmed a possible relationship of EHS in this group of subjects with a latent myopathy, as already shown for MH (4). Despite the positivity of IVCT, these EHS subjects are different from MHS subjects with a family history of MH. MHS subjects often display histologic abnormalitiesfrom nonspecific, such as atrophy of type II fibers, vasculitis, or rhabdomyolysis, to a disorganization of the intermyofibrillar network mimicking multicore or multiminicore disease (7). None of our EHS subjects displayed such anomalies, and none of them reported any family history of MH. Genetic information that could clarify the status of EHS subjects with respect to MH is lacking. This information is also not available for 50% of the MH families.
We have demonstrated that these EHS subjects displayed an early intracellular acidosis at the onset of both normoxic and ischemic exercises. It is interesting to note that this abnormality has been reported in MHS subjects (4,15) as a sign of abnormal glycolytic activity. Also, Payen et al. (16) did report a pH decrease twice as large in EHS subjects as compared with controls. The pH changes in exercising muscle are modulated by glycogenolysis activity, the amount of PCr hydrolyzed, and the capacity of muscle cells to handle proton production and elimination (1719). Proton efflux, calculated from pH and [PCr] changes during the postexercise recovery period according to Kemp et al. (20) was normal (results not shown). The alkalinizing effect of PCr hydrolysis was also similar between the groups. Therefore, the remaining cause accounting for the early pH decrease recorded upon exercise for the EHS subjects is an excessive contribution of glycogenolysis to meet energy demand. This mechanism could result from a direct hyperactivation of glycogenolysis caused by an abnormally large Ca2+ concentration in the cytosol. It could also be regarded as an adaptive mechanism aimed at compensating for a deficient aerobic energy production. However, abnormality of aerobic metabolism can be excluded because kinetics of [PCr] recovery, a largely recognized index of mitochondrial metabolism (9,2123), were not altered in EHS subjects. This observation clearly confirms that the early metabolic changes affecting pH are linked to an abnormally high activation of glycogenolysis, as previously found in MHS subjects, and might account for the abnormal consequences of strenuous exercise in EHS subjects (4).
According to the classification based on the previously reported magnetic resonance score (4), 73% of the EHS subjects had an average of six metabolic abnormalities, indicating that they may be susceptible to MH. It is interesting to note that the onset of muscle contracture upon exposure to ryanodine occurred significantly earlier for these subjects. It is accepted that in more than 50% of the MH families, MH susceptibility is linked to the gene encoding the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor, the calcium release channel of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Thus, metabolic abnormalities in EHS subjects detected by 31P MRS may indicate a defect affecting the calcium release channel of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which translates as a very abnormal ryanodine contracture test by IVCT.
Abnormal IVCT has been reported for subjects who displayed severe exercise-induced stroke (2428). For some subjects, but not all, family members had abnormal IVCTs, suggesting, in agreement with these metabolic results, that MH is a more general stress-induced syndrome, of which heat stroke could be one manifestation. In agreement with this hypothesis and on the basis of results recorded in animals and humans (2931), other factors, such as physical stress or heat, have been recognized to induce MH, in addition to volatile anesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants. EHS subjects might have an underlying skeletal muscle abnormality that is probably distinct from MH but involves a similar dysregulation of myoplasmic calcium cycling. This alteration of calcium regulation could explain in vitro abnormal contracture of muscle bundles exposed to anesthetics and in vivo heat stroke after strenuous exercise. We do not have any specific information about the possible inherited component of this muscle abnormality. Since 1988, 250 subjects who displayed EHS have been investigated in Marseille by use of IVCT and MRS. Among them, 32% have been diagnosed as MHS, demonstrating, in agreement with previous studies, that not all EHS subjects have muscle abnormality. Similarly, positive IVCT has been reported in other a priori unrelated myopathies, such as periodic paralysis and muscular dystrophies (3238). However, for EHS subjects with abnormal IVCT, such as the 26 cases reported in this article, there is a frequent incidence of similarities between anomalies related to EHS and MH.
We conclude from our results that, similar to MH crisis, EHS is related to a failure of muscle energetics that may be associated with a latent myopathy that is readily identified by noninvasive 31P MRS.
| Acknowledgments |
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| References |
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