| The present study was to investigate the the role of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the pathogenesis of viral myocarditis. Twenty-four BALB/c mice of 6 to 8 weeks were randomly divided into two groups: 16 were injected intraperineally with CVB3m and 8 served as control group. Immunohistochemistry technique was used to detect iNOS expression in the myocardium, and myocadial lesions were observed histopathologically. Furthermore, the relationship between the expression levels and myocardial damages were studied statistically by semi-quantitative analysis. In addition, the serum nitrate contents were measured by using fluorospectrophotometry. Histopathological study on the myocardium from injected mice revealed focal or diffuse lesions characterized by inflammatory cells and degeneration or necrosis of myocytes. The positive staining signals for iNOS proteins which mainly located in the infiltrating inflammatory cells and degeneration or necrosis of myocytes were markedly detectable whereas there were no positive findings in the myocardium of control mice. The myocardial lesion score showed significantly positive correlation with the iNOS expression level (r=O.85, P |
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