Monoclonal antibody therapy for prevention of acute coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis in mice

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 79; no. 6; pp. 1300 - 1308
• Main Authors: KISHIMOTO, C, ABELMANN, W. H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01.06.1989
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Coxsackievirus Infections - therapy; Enterovirus B, Human; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Immunosuppression - methods; Isoantibodies - therapeutic use; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Microbiology; Myocarditis - therapy; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; T-Lymphocytes - classification; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Virology; Picornaviridae; Rodentia; Enterovirus; Histology; Monoclonal antibody; Virus; Infection; Myocarditis; Vertebrata; Experimental disease; Mammalia; Mouse; Coxsackievirus B3; Immunotherapy; T-Lymphocyte; Immunofluorescence
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/01.CIR.79.6.1300

The efficacy of monoclonal antibodies against T cell subsets in the therapy of experimental myocarditis caused by coxsackievirus B3 (CB3) was investigated. Two-week-old male C3H/He mice were inoculated with CB3 virus. Treatment was begun in the viremic stage (starting on the day of inoculation) in experiment 1 and in the later aviremic stage (starting on day 10) in experiment 2. Rat anti-mouse monoclonal antibodies, Lyt 1 (helper/inducer T) at 1 microgram/mouse (group 2 in experiment 1; group 6 in experiment 2), Lyt 2 (suppressor/cytotoxic T) at 1 microgram/mouse (group 3 in experiment 1; group 7 in experiment 2), and Lyt 1 at 1 microgram plus Lyt 2 at 1 microgram/mouse (group 4 in experiment 1; group 8 in experiment 2), were administered subcutaneously daily for 2 weeks. The treatment groups were compared with infected controls (group 1 in experiment 1; group 5 in experiment 2). In experiment 1, the survival rate in group 4 was higher (p less than 0.01) than in group 1. In experiment 2, mice treated with Lyt 1 plus Lyt 2 (group 8) survived significantly longer (p less than 0.05) than did controls (group 5). In experiment 1, myocardial virus titers on days 5 and 6 did not show any significant differences among the four groups. Serum-neutralizing antibody titers between group 1 and group 4 in experiment 1 or between group 5 and group 8 in experiment 2 did not differ significantly. Histologic examination showed extensive myocardial necrosis and cellular infiltration in untreated groups: there was less infiltration in group 4 and in group 8 and less severe necrosis in group 8.