| First Author | Eriksson U | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | Circulation | Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 18-21 |
| PubMed ID | 11136679 | Mgi Jnum | J:133483 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3778698 | Doi | 10.1161/01.cir.103.1.18 |
| Citation | Eriksson U, et al. (2001) Lethal autoimmune myocarditis in interferon-gamma receptor-deficient mice: enhanced disease severity by impaired inducible nitric oxide synthase induction. Circulation 103(1):18-21 |
| abstractText | BACKGROUND: Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is an essential cytokine in the regulation of inflammatory responses in autoimmune diseases. Little is known about its role in inflammatory heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: We showed that IFN-gamma receptor-deficient mice (IFN-gammaR(-/-)) on a BALB/c background immunized with a peptide derived from cardiac alpha-myosin heavy chain develop severe myocarditis with high mortality. Although myocarditis subsided in wild-type mice after 3 weeks, IFN-gammaR(-/-) mice showed persistent disease. The persistent inflammation was accompanied by vigorous in vitro CD4 T-cell responses and impaired inducible nitric oxide synthase expression, together with evidence of impaired nitric oxide production in IFN-gammaR(-/-) hearts. Treatment of wild-type mice with the nitric oxide synthetase inhibitor N:-nitro-l-arginine-methyl-ester enhanced in vitro CD4 T-cell proliferation and prevented healing of myocarditis. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide evidence that IFN-gamma protects mice from lethal autoimmune myocarditis by inducing the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase followed by the downregulation of T-cell responses. |
