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We performed autopsies and serologic tests in 189 subjects (152 men and 37 women) between 20 and 50 years of age with no history of immunosuppression who died unexpectedly and whose bodies were referred to the San Francisco coroner's office. Forty-eight of the 88 single men for whom addresses were available lived in areas of the city with a high incidence of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In addition, 36 of the subjects (30 men) were intravenous drug abusers. Antibody to the retrovirus associated with AIDS was present in 23 (18%) of the 121 subjects whose sera were tested. However, neither pathologic nor laboratory manifestations of AIDS were present in any of the 189 subjects who underwent autopsy. These results suggest that antibody to the retrovirus is common but subclinical manifestations of AIDS are uncommon in San Francisco, a city where the incidence of clinical AIDS is high.

The rate of synthesis of delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase in mice is controlled by alleles at the levulinate (Lv) locus. Two structural mutations modifying the sensitivity of delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase to heat have been identified. Genetic analyses established that the structural locus for delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase was either physically close to or identical with the locus that controls its rate of synthesis.

Diabetes (db), which occurred in an inbred strain of mouse, is inherited as a unit autosomal recessive and is characterized by a metabolic disturbance resembling diabetes mellitus in man. Abnormal deposition of fat at 3 to 4 weeks of age is followed shortly by hyperglycemia, polyuria, and glycosuria. Accompanying morphological changes in the islets of Langerhans suggest neogenesis to compensate for insulin depletion.