The role of circulating autoantibodies in relation to proteins in structural cardiomyocytes and functional changes of the heart in patients with chronic myocarditis

Evidence that has been progressively gathered implicates an important role of the immune system in the course of heart failure. In the majority of heart disease patients, disturbances of humoral immunity with production of cardiodepressant antibodies may play a functional role in cardiac dysfunction. This study evaluates the role of autoantibodies to the cardiac myosin. We examined 52 patients (from 14 till 61 years) with chronic myocarditis. The main examination methods were clinical and biochemical blood tests, ECG, ambulatory Holter ECG monitoring, echocardiography. Autoantibodies to the cardiac myosin were determined by ELISA. These autoantibodies correlate with myocardial inflammation. Also they are associated with structural changes of the heart (hypertrophy, dilation) and cardiac dysfunction (contractility, rhythm and conduction). The degree of expression of these disorders is related to the severity of chronic heart failure.