[Experimental myocardiopathy caused by the herpesvirus]

Mice weighing 18--20 g were inoculated with herpes simplex virus type I. The rate of pathological changes in the myocardium was found to depend on the route of virus inoculation and the time of heart examinations in the infected animals. The development of myocardiopathies was not determined by the virus dose used in the test. An immunosuppressant drug, imurane, reduced the rate of heart affections. Pathomorphological changes in the heart were of parenchymatous-interstitial nature, with the leading role of lesions of myocardium muscle cells proper and secondary development of microcirculation disorders. The rate of heart lesions increased when herpes and influenza viruses were given to mice simultaneously; staphylococcus toxin had the same effect.