Neurogenic cardiomyopathy in rabbits with experimentally induced rabies

Cardiomyopathies have been rarely described in rabbits. Here we report myocardial necrosis of the ventricular wall in rabbits with experimentally induced rabies. Myocardial lesions were found only in rabbits with brain lesions, and the severity of the cardiac lesions was proportional to that of the brain lesions. Neither the frequency nor the cumulative dose of anesthesia was related to the incidence or the severity of the myocardial lesions. The myocardial lesions were characterized by degeneration and/or necrosis of myocardial cells and were accompanied by contraction band necrosis, interstitial fibrosis, and infiltration of inflammatory cells. The brain lesions due to rabies virus infection were most prominent in the cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, brainstem, and medulla. Rabies virus antigen was not found in the hearts of any rabbits. Based on these findings, the myocardial lesions were classified as neurogenic cardiomyopathy.