DIFFERENTIAL BEHAVIOR IN PANCREAS AND HEART OF 2 COXSACKIEVIRUS B3 VARIANTS

In order to characterize viral kinetics and pathogenic properties of t wo intratypic variants of coxsackievirus B type 3, Balb/c mice were in traperitoneally inoculated and serial samples harvested from days 2 to 28. Although both CB3o (amyocarditic) and CB3m (myocarditic) variants induced similar early infectivity titres in pancreas, only the latter led to severe acinar necrosis, followed in turn by patent viraemia an d subsequent focal myocarditis. Nevertheless, when both variants were inoculated in cultured cardiac cells, neither infectivity nor eel deat h rate differed noticeable. Therefore, our findings indicate that over t myocarditis is not attributable to contrasting cardiomyocyte suscept ibility to the tested variants but rather to prior viral events in pan creatic tissues.