Figure 1From: The innate immune response to coxsackievirus B3 predicts progression to cardiovascular disease and heart failure in male mice Males develop increased myocarditis and progress to heart failure and myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Male and female BALB/c mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with 103 plaque forming units of heart passaged coxsackievirus B3 on day 0 and (A) myocarditis assessed histologically at day 12 post infection (pi) and (B) heart function (% ejection fraction) assessed by echocardiography at day 10 pi. An ejection fraction ≤45% indicates heart failure. (C) Dilation is observed in male hearts (right) but not in female hearts (left) in histology sections at day 35 pi. Magnification × 5. DCM was confirmed in males but not females at day 90 pi by echocardiography (data not shown). Data show the mean ± standard error of the mean of 7 - 10 mice per group. **, P < 0.01.Back to article page