Low-Level Expression of a Mutant Coxsackieviral cDNA Induces a Myocytopathic Effect in Culture

Enteroviral ribonucleic acids have been identified in heart muscle of a subset of patients with myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy as well as in a mouse model of persistent coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection, suggesting that persistent viral infection along with activation of an immune response may contribute to the pathogenesis of ongoing cardiac disease and dilated cardiomyopathy in certain patients. It is still not known whether persistence of the viral genome contributes to the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy.