The study of sex differences during the innate immune response against coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis (12hr post infection)

Men are at an increased risk of dying from heart failure caused by inflammatory heart diseases such as atherosclerosis, myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We previously showed that macrophages in the spleen are phenotypically distinct in male compared to female mice at 12 hours (h) after infection. This innate immune profile mirrors and predicts the cardiac immune response during acute myocarditis. Groups consisted of Infected Males, Infected Females, Uninfected Males and Uninfected females. There are 5 mice per group. A total of 20 samples were analyzed in this experiment.