THE ROLE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS BY INDUCTION OF CARDIOMYOPATHY

丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是世界范围内慢性肝炎的主要病因。据报道，HCV与心肌病有关。然而，慢性HCV感染引起心肌病的机制尚不清楚。HCV核心蛋白对基因转录、细胞生长和细胞死亡的调节作用可能参与了心肌病的发病机制。12个月大后，小鼠出现心肌病，表现为左心室扩张，收缩和舒张功能障碍。这些心脏改变包括心肌细胞肥大、肌纤维结构紊乱、肌丝丢失、肌纤维结构紊乱、Z带异常、细胞核形状不规则、线粒体数目增多和聚集等，表明HCV核心蛋白在心肌病的发生发展中起重要作用，这些转基因小鼠为HCV感染的心肌病提供了良好的动物模型。

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.