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We have examined urine samples from 40 lymphomapatients, 24 Hodgkin’s patients, 20 rheumatoid arthritics, and3 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. All proved nega-tive for polyoma virus by electron microscopy despite immuno-suppressive therapy. The frequency of virus in aplastic-anzmiapatients investigated by our methods is low—1 in 10 casesscreened to date.We suggest that inherited specific immunodeficiencies,
enhanced by immunosuppressive therapy, allow these "latent"viruses to multiply in the host. In view of the well-documentedoncogenicity of human and other polyoma viruses in animalsand their ability to transform mammalian (including human)cells in culture, it is of paramount importance to study the oc-currence of these viruses in inherited immunodeficiencies, withand without induced immunosuppression.
G. LECATSASB. D. SCHOUBO. W. PROZESKY
Department of Microbiologyand Microbial Genetics Unit
F. PRETORIUSF. C. DE BEER
Department of Medicine,University of Pretoria,Pretoria,Republic of South Africa.
RESPONSE TO ADRENALINE AND PROPRANOLOLIN HYPERTHYROIDISM
SIR,—Whether or not the cardiovascular system in hyper-thyroidism is supersensitive to catecholamines is still controver-sial. 1-4 The effectiveness of beta-adrenergic-receptor antag-onists in reducing heart-rate in hyperthyroid patients’-7indicates the existence of a sympathetic component in thetachycardia accompanying hyperthyroidism rather than an in-crease in sensitivity of the heart to the sympathetic neurotrans-mitter or an increase in sympathetic discharge. We have com-pared the effects of adrenaline and propranolol on heart-rate(recorded by electrocardiogram) and blood-pressure (recordedby sphygmomanometer) in 5 euthyroid controls and 4 patientswith signs and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. Informed consentwas obtained from each person.
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None of the patients had any arrhythmias; the heart-rate ofthe hyperthyroid patients (108±7.5 beats/min) was signifi-cantly greater (P<0.05) than that of the euthyroid controls(80 ±5 beats/min). Average blood-pressure for euthyroid sub-jects was 111±5/77±4 mm Hg and for hyperthyroid patients107±6/60±6 mm Hg. Adrenaline (0-4 mg subcutaneously) in-creased the heart-rate of euthyroid and hyperthyroid subjectsby 20±14 and 13±27 beats/min, respectively; there was nosignificant difference in effect of adrenaline between the twogroups. Adrenaline did not cause any arrhythmias, and itseffect on the blood-pressure was variable and less than 4 mmHg. Oral administration of 40 mg propranolol lowered theheart-rate by 15±3 beats/min in the euthyroid controls and by23±4-3 beats/min in the hyperthyroid patients. Thus, theeffect of propranolol did not differ significantly between thetwo groups. Propranolol did not produce any significant effecton the blood-pressure. The dose of propranolol used in thisstudy produced effective beta-adrenergic-receptor blockade,since a second injection of 0.4 mg adrenaline an hour after ad-ministration of propranolol caused a significant rise in blood-pressure (20-40 mm Hg) and a reflex fall in heart-rate (23-26beats/min) in both groups.A comparable effect of adrenaline and propranolol on the
1. Aoki, V. S., Wilson, W. R., Theilen, E. O., Lukensmeyer, W. W., Leaverton,P. E.J. Pharmac. exp. Ther. 1967, 157, 62.
2. McDevitt, D. G., Shanks, R. G. Lancet, 1973, i, 1385.3. Prange, A. J., French, F. S., McCurdy, R. L., Van Wyk, J. J. Lipton, M. A.
Clin. Pharmac. Ther. 1968, 9, 195.4. Turner, P. Lancet, 1973, i, 1196.5. Howitt, G., Rowlands, D. J., ibid. 1966, i, 628.6. McDevitt, D. G., Shanks, R. G., Hadden, D. R., Montgomery, D. A. D.,
Weaver, J. A. ibid. 1968, i, 998.7. Turner, P., Granville-Grossman, K. L., Smart, J. V. ibid. 1965, ii, 1316.
heart-rate and blood-pressure of euthyroid and hyperthyroidsubjects indicates a lack of supersensitivity of the cardiovascu-lar system to catecholamines in hyperthyroidism.
D. R. VARMA*K. K. SHARMAR. C. ARORA
Departments of Pharmacology andMedicine, M.L.B. Medical College,Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. India.
*Present address: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill Uni-versity, Montreal, Canada.
Obituary
ALEXANDER HADDOWKt., M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc. Edin., F.R.S
Sir Alexander Haddow, professor emeritus of experi-mental pathology in the University of London and from1946 to 1969 director of the Chester Beatty ResearchInstitute, Institute of Cancer Research, Royal CancerHospital, died on Jan. 21 at the age of 69. His work incancer research over many years brought him interna-tional acclaim.
He was educated at Broxbum High School and the Univer-sity of Edinburgh, graduating M.B. in 1929, PH.D. and M.D,(with gold medal) in 1937, and D.sc. in 1938. He was David-son research fellow and lecturer in bacteriology at the Univer-sity of Edinburgh, and held a Laura de Saliceto studentship atthe University of London, before joining the staff of the Ches-ter Beatty Research Institute. In 1946 he was appointed pro-fessor of experimental pathology in the University of Londonand director of the Chester Beatty Research Institute at theRoyal Cancer Hospital. He held office in many organisations:he was president and later vice-president of the British Associ-ation for Cancer Research, vice-president of the British CancerCouncil, president of the International Union Against Cancer,and president of the Section of Oncology of the Royal Societyof Medicine; and he was a member of the New York Academyof Sciences, and of the American Association for CancerResearch. He was also a member of the Press Council, of theBritish Association for World Government, and of the Partia-mentary Group for World Government, chairman of theB.B.C. Science Consultative Group, and president of the Med-ical Association for the Prevention of War. He travelled widelyto lecture and preside at meetings, and he received honoursand awards from many countries, including Belgium, Cuba,Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, the UnitedStates, and the U.S.S.R.
P. A. writes:"Alex will be remembered with the greatest affection by au
of those who worked with him and for him for his generosityand tolerance. He gave without stint his personal attention andinterest to the problems, personal and scientific, of his sta6,and to the very many visiting workers who flocked to the Ches-ter Beatty Research Institute. A few days’ illness heralded thearrival of a handwritten letter or suitably chosen book fromAlex for porters and professors alike. His prodigious memory,so evident in his scientific work, extended to the personal level.and he knew of and cared for the family details of all—andat times the total staff of the Chester Beatty Research Institutenumbered nearly 300. These personal qualities contrastedsharply with his relations with officialdom and those in au-thority, who frequently found him ruthless and uncomprisiatin his requests for support for individuals and for the instituteHe would brook no outside interference, and I recall hisrejoinder to a finance committee that it was their function Mfind the money and his to spend it-an attitude which can ost?be sustained by one with the intellectual brilliance and therecord of solid achievements enjoyed by Alex."He directed the institute with a light rein; he maintained
that good researchers must be left alone to develop their Q1t1!promise. Yet he realised the need for a long-range programme
