Tobacco Documents Online

.IR P in HARVARD MEDICAL SCHIOIO'L/'BETHI ISRAE'L HOSPITAL SITE VISIT tntroductiioni ti Tobacco Industry representatives were invited to a site visit at the Beth I'srael Hospital in Bnston,where Dr., Gary Huber of the Harvard Medical School is involved in a research program supported by the in- dustry. At a dinner on the evening of May 29, 1974, we had &chance to meet the project's princi'ple scientilfic personnel plus senior members of the Beth Israell staff and some of the hospital's directors. On the following morning we were addressed by some of these same people wholdis- cussed the role Beth Israell Hbspital' has played in medical research and will play in providing faci'l'ities and services to~the Tobacco Industry project. I was very favorably impressed with the dedication this hospitall hastowards research and the amount ofmonies it has beenwilliing to spend to devel op researchi excel llence: and research servi ces toi i ts staff. Host Defense Systems Dr. Huber led a discussion on the scientific aspects of the Industry's project. Basically,,he is interested in the host defense systems of the lung. These encompass the surfa~ce fluids, the epithelial resources, and'the immunological resources. The major defense is the alveollar macro- phage lliqpid wiithimacrophage surfactant. Severall different methods of pulmonary assay were discussed, the first being aniaerosol generator system. In this techni'que bacteriia containing labeled phosphorus is aerosolized and'the aerosol diffused over animals. By doingiplate counts on excised animal lung tissue, the 1abeledibacterial which has been inhaled canibe quantized. Using this technique the effects of ozone were studied. One interesting fact.is that stress alone inacti- vates the defense systemof the lung. With cigarette smoke, 15-20 cigarettesper dayimproved,thebacterial inactivationi.whien rats,were used as the test animal. At aniexcess of 30 cigarettes per day, the defense systems of the rats were impaired. At 80, cigarettes per, day, rat mortality was very high. A'second technique for pulmonary bio-assay is calliedlthe airway morphometrilc system. Here the macrophage is harvested from the lung then added to bacteria both with and without smoke. Then the viable bacteria are measured. Because microphage are the means through which bacteria are destroyed, the effect of the smoke on macrophage's activity can be determiined by the bac- tertal count.

-2- They are studying the interaction of tobacco smoke plus added thyroxine on the,host"s defense system as the thyroid gland appears toibe intimately involved. Aerosol Technology The next speaker, Dr. First, is involved in aerosol engineering. His interests iinithe project are inithe area of deposition of the smoke aerosol; chemical analysis of'the smoke to get a firm fiix on the degree ofanimall exposure; and study:ing the effects ofdilution on the aerosol. 1-511~ It was learned that Dr. First and Dr., Hinds, his associiate, are both on the ASTMIcommittee for standardizing smoke aerosols. In, discussiion with Dr. First, he mentioned t.he Tobacco Industry's reluctance to participate inisuch a standardization. Dr. First brought to my attention the fact that standards cannot be set without the committee's approval and the committee generally is motivated by what that particular industry desires. Therefore, it would seem desirable to have the Tobacco Iindustry represented on this ASTM commiittee. It is my understandiing that at best some tobacco companies are sending observers and some companies, liike Philip Morris, have,not had anyone in attendance. I think this situation should be reme- diediso that we can impart some degree of control to this committee. I discussed this with Dr. Wak:eham and he suggested that I attend the commit- tee as an observer. I plan to dio this at the next meeting. Dr. Hinds, working with Dr. First, is performing,physical measurements on the smoke aerosol using a spiral centrifuge. In principle this is similar to the aerosol centrifuge developed by Dr. Alexander Goetz,,a former Phi'l ip Morrfs consul tant. The major iimprovement made in the apparatus since its development was cooling of'the equipment during aerosol depositi'on. Dr. HindS plans to separate the aerosol by parti'ele size then analyze the various factions for differences inichemical constituency. Cardii ol oqy Drs. A'bellmann and Bing are cardiologists who were interested in the effect ofsmokiing on the heart muscle per se. They plan to use non-invasive techniques to study the acute an cTFronic effects of smoke on the heart. These wiilil i nvol ve externall moni toriingi ei ther el ectri cal 1y, by sound or by echo techniques. They have devised techniques to use isolated animal heart strips to measure the force and displacement of the muscle tissue when exposed to vairious atmospheres.

-3- Commentary Because of non-technical difficulties, Dr. Huber's project has moved very slowly since its inception. Little actual work on smoke has been condhcted during the past 18 months. Mowithat the projiect is newly housed at Beth Israel Hospital, I feel that substantiiali progress can be made. I was im- pressed wi'thiDr. Huber and his scientific staff. They appear to be know- ledgeable and enthusiastic. Iniaddition, there is aitremendbusiamount of scientific taltnt and equipment availablle to them at Beth Israel.,not only at the hospital itsel'fbut in the area surrounding the hospital where there is what appears to be a"criti'cal mass" ofmedicaT facilities. I would gather from Dr. Huber''s remarks that they are free to draw on this complex of talent and do so readily. I would expect next year's site visit to be much more interesting and to refTect algreat deal ofprogress inithe TobaccolIndustry's program. RB'S :d l s Attachment 6/'5/ 74 cc: Mr. C.H. Goldsmith Mr. WA. McDowell