Infection of hypercholesterolemic mice with Coxsackievirus B

Adult male mice were made hypercholesterolemic by a diet high in cholesterol, cholic acid, animal fat, and sucrose. After three months on this diet, animals were infected with 5 X 10(9) plaque-forming units of coxsackievirus B5. Control groups consisted of uninfected hypercholesterolemic mice and infected mice maintained on a standard laboratory diet. Infection in the hypercholesterolemic animals was associated with leukopenia, severe fatty metamorphosis and focal necrosis in the liver, cholelithiasis, ileus, cardiomyolysis, and lack of inflammatory response. These mice died within seven to 14 days. Uninfected hypercholesterolemic animals had lesser degrees of fatty liver and cholelithiasis, and all survived. Infected mice maintained on a standard diet also survived. Titers of virus in representative tissues were lower in the hypercholesterolemic than in the normal mice, an indication that replication of virus was not solely responsible for the lethal outcome of the infections. These experiments demonstrate that hypercholesterolemia may alter host defenses against group B coxsackievirus in the mouse.