PERSISTENCE OF VIRUS AND VIRAL GENOME IN MYOCARDIUM AFTER COXSACKIEVIRUS B3-INDUCED MURINE MYOCARDITIS

Following infection with Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), A-strain mice devel op ongoing myocarditis that persists after the virus ceases to be cult ivatable from heart tissue. We studied the natural history of this vir us-induced but apparently autoimmune inflammation by means of in situ hybridization (ISH) and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Both ISH a nd culture allowed detection of virus up to 2 weeks post-infection in virtually all heart tissues. In contrast, PCR revealed the presence of viral genome for a substantially longer period of time, i.e. at least 34 days after CVB3 infection. Similarly, the majority of mice showed myocardial inflammation at this time point. However, the persistence o f virus did not correlate with ongoing myocarditis, and vice versa. Mo st mice with ongoing myocarditis produced heart myosin autoantibodies, most probably as a result of tissue damage. The lack of correlation b etween presence of ongoing inflammation and persistence of virus suppo rts our previous view that the late phase of CVB3-induced myocarditis is mediated by autoimmunological mechanisms.