Characteristics of patients and control donors whose myocardial samples were used in gene expression studies.

Age (years). M (male). F (female). CCC (Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy). NIC (Non-inflammatory Cardiomyopathy). IDC (Idipathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy). IC (Ischemic Cardiomyopathy). Normal heart donors were subject to ventilator and vasoactive drugs, and had been under life support for an average of 48 hours. Characterization of the samples as myocarditis, fibrosis and hypertrophy; reference values for the presence of myocarditis and fibrosis: 0: absent; 1+: slight; 2+: moderate; 3+: intense; hypertrophy: Y: yes N: no. EF (Ejection Fraction) was always less than 40%. LVDD (left ventricle diastolic diameter) normal reference value: diameter 39–55 mm. Values of mRNA expression (RT-qPCR) of the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). -, Control samples were used as calibrators in the RT-qPCR reaction and have no relative expression value using the 2−ΔΔCt calculation method as described in Methods.