Îı¾¿ò: THE APOPTOSIS OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES AND CARDIAC MYOCYTES IN MURINE VIRAL MYOCARDITIS Wang S-Y, Ma P-R Shandong University College of Medicine, Jinan, China Objective: To study the relationship between the apoptosis of peripheral blood lymphocytes and cardiac myocytes in murine CoxsackievirusB3 myocarditis. Methods:Annexin V/PI was used to detect quantitatively the percentage of apoptosis of lymphocytes and cardiac myocytes in CVB3 mice with flow cytometry. Results: Both the percentage of lymphocytes apoptosis and cardiomyocytes apoptosis in murine myocarditis were significant higher than those in normal control mice(P <0.001).There was a positive correlation between the percentage of lymphocytes apoptosis in peripheral blood and the percentage of cardiomyocytes apoptosis (r = 0.80). Both the percentage of lymphocytes apoptosis and myocytes apoptosis correlated positively with myocardial histopathological score (r = 0.72 and r = 0.85, respectively). Conclusions: The percentage of apoptosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes could reflect the status of cardiac myocytes apoptosis. Both the percentage of lymphocytes apoptosis in peripheral blood and cardiomyocytes apoptosis could estimate the severity of myocardial histopathology. 0894