Porcrine Stress syndrome

Research into malignant hyperthermia was limited until the discovery of "porcine stress syndrome" in Landrace pigs was discovered. This condition causes these pigs to form a "pale, soft, exudative" flesh when they are stressed. This is a manifestation of the effects of malignant hyperthermia, which renders the pigs unable for slaughter.

The "awake trigger" as it is known in pigs, was not observed in humans, which cast doubts on the value of the animal model. However it was not long until it was noticed that the 'awake trigger' was also present in many MH sufferers when they become stressed and so supported this model useful for MH research. Today, many pig farmers use halothane cones in pig yards to expose piglets to halothane. Those that die were MH-susceptible, which saves the farmer the expense of raising pisg whose meat could not be sold on market.

Gillard et al discovered the causative mutation in humans only after similar mutations had first been described in pigs, which ultimately led to the discovery of the all important RYR1 gene.

Horses have also been discovered to suffer to MH similar to pigs. It is most prominent in Thoroughbreds and can be triggered by overwork (racing), anesthesia or extreme stress. However little research has been conducted on the horse model for MH.

 Imformation adapted from :en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malignant_hyperthermia

Image taken from Flicr: www.flickr.com/photos/wolfie/239041835/