THE ROLE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS BY INDUCTION OF CARDIOMYOPATHY

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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main cause of chronic hepatitis worldwide. HCV has been reported to be associated with cardiomyopathy. However, the mechanism of cardiomyopathy in chronic HCV infection is still unclear. The ability of the core protein of HCV to modulate gene transcription, cell growth and cell death may be involved in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy.Here, we report the development of cardiomyopathy in mice transgenic for the HCV core gene. After the age of 12 months, mice developed cardiomyopathy that appeared as left ventricular dilatation, and systolic and diastolic dysfunction. These cardiac changes were consisted with cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, myofiber disorganization, myofilament loss, myofiber disorganization, Z-band abnormalities, irregular shaped nuclei, increased number of mitochondria and aggregation of mitochondria.These results indicate that the HCV core protein has an important role in the development of cardiomyopathy, and that these transgenic mice provide good animal models for cardiomyopathy with HCV infection.