Back to Search
Start Over
Cardiomyocyte apoptosis in experimental coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis
- Source :
-
Cardiovascular Pathology . Sep2003, Vol. 12 Issue 5, p255. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2003
-
Abstract
- Introduction: Viruses are known to induce apoptosis in their host cells. We studied whether cardiomyocyte apoptosis occurs upon coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection and whether virus-associated apoptosis plays a role in the pathogenesis of experimental myocarditis. Methods: BALB/c mice were infected with two variants of CVB3 causing either mild or severe myocarditis. Myocardial and serum samples were collected from Day 1 to Day 14 after virus inoculation. Apoptosis was detected in myocardial tissue sections using the terminal transferase-mediated DNA nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay and staining of active caspase 3, and compared with the presence of infectious CVB3 and viral proteins in cardiomyocytes. Results: Compared with the noninfected control mice, infection with either CVB3 variant resulted in significantly increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which peaked on Day 5 after infection. At this time, the average percentages of apoptotic cardiomyocytes were 0.17% (SD 0.04; P=.03) and 0.77% (SD 0.11; P<.01) in mild and severe disease forms, respectively. The amount of apoptosis correlated with titers of infectious CVB3 in the heart muscle. Viral proteins were detected in the TUNEL-positive cells by immunohistochemistry. In the late stages of disease, apoptosis, together with inflammatory infiltrates persisted only in the severe disease form. Conclusions: CVB3-associated myocardial damage involves cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In the early stages of the disease, it appears to be triggered by viral replication in the cardiomyocytes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Subjects :
- *APOPTOSIS
*HEART cells
*MYOCARDITIS
*IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10548807
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Cardiovascular Pathology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 10864731
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-8807(03)00077-2