LGALS3 and dilated cardiomyopathy: Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is a small single-stranded RNA virus that can cause acute myocarditis in various animals including mice.[13] EMCV infection in mice is an established model for viral myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure.[14] In addition to myocarditis, EMCV can cause acute encephalitis in many mammalian species.[13] Our previous study[15] demonstrated that galectin-3 is up-regulated in early stages of degenerative lesions of brain areas, including cerebellum, hippocampus, thalamus and cerebral hemisphere.