Several picornaviruses has been proposed as etiologic agents of polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and cardiomyopathy. We plan to probe for picornavirus genome in skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue from P>/DM and heart disease patients by using reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction. In addition, we will study the pathogenesis of disease in an experimental Coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1-induced murine polymyositis; the role of the immune system and the virus in producing muscle damage will specifically be investigated. A key reagent in the experimental studies will be the use of infectious CVB1 cDNA. This work will hopefully clarify the role of persistent picornavirus infection as a cause of human disease.
