Glutathione peroxidase protects mice from viral‐induced myocarditis

Abstract

Glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX‐1) is a selenium‐dependent enzyme with antioxidant properties. Previous investigations determined that mice deficient in selenium developed myocarditis when infected with a benign strain of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3/0). To determine whether this effect was mediated by GPX‐1, mice with a disrupted Gpx1 gene ( Gpx1 –/– ) were infected with CVB3/0. Gpx1 –/– mice developed myocarditis after CVB3/0 infection, whereas infected wild‐type mice (Gpx1 +/+ ) were resistant. Sequencing of viruses recovered from Gpx1 –/– ‐infected mice demonstrated seven nucleotide changes in the viral genome, of which three occurred at the G residue, the most easily oxidized base. No changes were found in virus isolated from Gpx1 +/+ mice. These results demonstrate that GPX‐1 provides protection against viral‐induced damage in vivo due to mutations in the viral genome of a benign virus.—Beck, M. A., Esworthy, R. S., Ho, Y.‐S., Chu, F.‐F. Glutathione peroxidase protects mice from viral‐induced myocarditis. FASEB J. 12, 1143–1149 (1998)