Fig. 1.

Coxsackievirus B4 (CV-B4) and thymus. Overview of experimental studies performed in vitro in human and mouse systems and in vivo in mice. Thymus fragments, obtained from children undergoing corrective cardiovascular surgery for congenital cardiopathies, were processed for isolating thymic epithelial cells (TEC). Human and mouse fetal thymus organ cultures were performed and total thymocytes, isolated from mouse thymus, were cultured. CV-B4 can infect thymocytes and TEC, which results in abnormal patterns of thymocyte populations, overproduction of cytokines and increased expression of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The virus can replicate and persist in TEC. Oral inoculation of CV-B4 to 3–4-week-old Swiss albino mice results in persistence of viral RNA (up to 70 days) in thymus.