Benign human enterovirus becomes virulent in selenium-deficient mice

✍ Scribed by Melinda A. Beck; Peter C. Kolbeck; Lisa H. Rohr; Qing Shi; Virginia C. Morris; Orville A. Levander

• Book ID: 102908561
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 633 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890430213

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Coxsackieviruses have been implicated as possible co‐factors in the etiology of the selenium (Se)‐responsive cardiomyopathy known as Keshan disease. Here we report that a cloned and sequenced amyocarditic coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3/0), which causes no pathology in the hearts of Se‐adequate mice, induces extensive cardiac pathology in Se‐deficient mice. CVB3/0 recovered from the hearts of Se‐deficient mice inoculated into Se‐adequate mice induced significant heart damage, suggesting mutation of the virus to a virulent genotype. We demonstrate the important role of host nutritional status in determining the severity of a viral infection. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.