Figure 1.

Effect of treatment with MMF or the interferon inducer poly IC on coxsackie virus B3 induced myocarditis in C3H mice. Infected mice (two independent experiments) were treated via oral gavage for 7 consecutive days (-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 relative to virus inoculation) with MMF at the indicated doses [(100 (n = 9), 200 (n = 10) or 300 (n = 6) mg/kg/day)]. Poly IC was given intraperitoneally at 15 mg/kg/day on days -1, 0, 1 relative to virus inoculation. Animals were sacrificed on day 7 post-virus inoculation and the severity of the myocarditis lesions was assessed morphometrically. The virus control group consisted of 8 animals. Statistical differences were calculated between each experimental condition and the mock treated controls (*: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01: ***: p < 0.001).