Detection of enteroviral RNA in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and other human cardiac tissues.
Enteroviruses have been considered to be a possible cause of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. We used a polymerase chain reaction methodology for the identification of enteroviral RNA in an attempt to provide evidence of a role for enteroviruses in the pathogenesis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The methodology was shown to identify a wide variety of enteroviruses with a sensitivity up to 0.1-1 plaque-forming units/gram of tissue. 5 of 11 cases (45%) of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, as well as 9 of 24 cases (38%) of a wide variety of other cardiac conditions (including normal heart), were positive for enteroviral nucleic acid sequences; all eight control cases of breast carcinoma tested were negative. These results suggest that both the normal and abnormal heart may represent a site of latent or low-grade persistent enteroviral infection, and that the mere presence of enteroviral nucleic acid sequences is not specifically associated with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Weiss
L M
LM
Department of Pathology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California 91010-0269.
Liu
X F
XF
Chang
K L
KL
Billingham
M E
ME
D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000382:microbiology*; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006321:Heart / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*
D012367:RNA, Viral