Cardiac Function Remains Impaired Despite Reversible Cardiac Remodeling after Acute Experimental Viral Myocarditis

Figure 3

Immune cell infiltration: gene expression and histological quantification of specific marker for various inflammatory cells in cardiac tissue of CVB3-infected mice 7 and 28 days after infection. (a) Gene expression analysis of specific marker for various immune cells. The gene expression of Cd3e, as a marker for T cells in general, was highly increased 7 days after infection. Subsequent analysis of Cd4 and Cd8a expression revealed that CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cell represents the predominant T cell population within the cardiac tissue during the acute phase of viral myocarditis. Furthermore, Cd19 expression, as a marker for B cells, was not increased 7 and 28 days after infection. (b) Detailed images of murine cardiac tissue stained for different cell surface markers of immune cells. Immune cells were quantified and plotted as positive cells per mm². Tissue sections stained for CD11b⁺, CD68⁺, and CD80⁺ cells revealed significantly increased numbers 7 days after CVB3 infection compared to healthy controls. 28 days after infection no increased inflammation was detectable. The white bar represents healthy C57BL/6J mice, and grey bars represent mice infected with CVB3 for 7 days (light grey) or for 28 days (dark-grey). Data are presented as box plots; different compared to noninfected mice (control); ; ; .

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