SIV cardiomyopathy in non-human primates.

While cardiac myocytes are not generally considered conventional cellular targets of retroviral infection with HIV-1, the increasing recognition of AIDS related cardiomyopathy has raised important questions as to the viral pathogenesis. Our laboratory has explored the role of simian immunodeficiency viral (SIV) infection in non-human primates as a suitable large-animal model to examine cardiac involvement. Our data suggest that in the presence of inflammatory myocarditis, SIV is localized to CD4 bearing inflammatory cells and not cardiac myocytes, suggesting that the heart may be an innocent bystander in AIDS cardiomyopathy.