Variation in Virulence of Coxsackie Virus B3 in the Hearts of Mice

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Abstract
Virulence of Coxsackie virus B3 (CB3) was compared in mice between strain SK‐74 isolated from a patient and strain T‐70 isolated from a healthy child as well as between prototype strain Nancy and its mouse‐passaged derivative strain PMH. Strain SK‐74 showed a high mortality (40–80%), while strain T‐70 did not induce deaths in mice (mortality: 0%). Strain PMH showed a high mortality (65–85%), but strain Nancy did not cause deaths in the mice. In agreement with the mortality trend, virus titers in the heart and other organs of mice inoculated with strain SK‐74 and PMH were higher than those in mice inoculated with T‐70 and Nancy strains. Since virus titers in the heart remained higher than those in other organs, the heart was regarded as the main organ in which CB3 could replicate and induce cell degeneration. The present results suggest that a marked variation in virulence in the hearts of mice among CB3 strains occurred and that passage through the hearts of mice enhances the virulence of CB3 in the hearts of mice.