Abstract:

Objective     To detect the level of plasma Galectin-9 and the expression of Galectin-9 mRNA in the myocardium of viral myocarditis mice at different phases and explore its potential role in the occurrence and development of viral myocarditis. Methods     Fifty eight BALB/c male mice (5 to 6 weeks) were randomly divided into coxsackievirus B3(CVB3) group(n=50) and control group(n=8).The mice in CVB3 group were inoculated with 0.10mL TCID50 10-5/L coxsackievirus B3, Eight mice in CVB3 group were sacrificed on day 7, 10, 14 and 28 after the inoculation. The mice in control group were inoculated with 0.10mL Eagle reagent, and the mice were sacrificed on the day 28. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect the level of serum Galectin9. With the hearts extracted, the histopathologic changes were observed by light microscope and the myocardial histopathology scores were calculated. The expression of Galectin9 mRNA of myocardium was determined by the realtime quantitive polymerase chain reaction(RQPCR)method. Result     The level of plasma Galectin-9 elevated significantly on day 7、10 and day 14(P＜0.01). The expression of Galectin-9 mRNA in the myocardium increased significantly on the 7th day and 10th day(P＜0.01). The level of plasma Galectin-9 and the expression of Galectin-9 mRNA were positivly correlaed with the myocardial pathologic scores(r=0.75, 0.74; P＜0.05). The level of plasma Galectin-9 in CVB3 group were positivlycorrelaed with the expression of Galectin-9 mRNA(r=0.71； P＜0.05). Conclusion     The expression of Galectin-9 in the viral myocarditis mice elevated significantly,which were   positively correlated with the severity of myocardium. It may play certain role in the occurrence and development of viral myocarditis.

Key words: Viral myocarditis； Galectin-9； Galectins