Did Justinian the Great (527–565 CE) suffer from syphilis?

Lascaratos, John; Poulakou‐Rebelakou, Effie

doi:10.1046/j.1365-4362.1999.00561.x

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(7 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Speculation abounds, often with scant evidence, about famous persons who may have had syphilis-the implicated include political figures (165,172,210), musicians (87,114,254), and literary greats (113,187,258,262). Many believe that syphilis was brought to Europe by Columbus and his sailors, although there is no objective proof of this theory (176).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Basis for Syphilis

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY Syphilis is a chronic sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum. Clinical manifestations separate the disease into stages; late stages of disease are now uncommon compared to the preantibiotic era. T. pallidum has an unusually small genome and lacks genes that encode many metabolic functions and classical virulence factors. The organism is extremely sensitive to environmental conditions and has not been continuously cultivated in vitro. Nonetheless, T. pallidum is highly infectious and survives for decades in the untreated host. Early syphilis lesions result from the host's immune response to the treponemes. Bacterial clearance and resolution of early lesions results from a delayed hypersensitivity response, although some organisms escape to cause persistent infection. One factor contributing to T. pallidum's chronicity is the paucity of integral outer membrane proteins, rendering intact organisms virtually invisible to the immune system. Antigenic variation of TprK, a putative surface-exposed protein, is likely to contribute to immune evasion. T. pallidum remains exquisitely sensitive to penicillin, but macrolide resistance has recently been identified in a number of geographic regions. The development of a syphilis vaccine, thus far elusive, would have a significant positive impact on global health.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Basis for Syphilis

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed, Justinian died at the unusual, for that period, age of 83 years, manifesting curious behavior towards the end of his life , 16 so that his wife, Theodora, undertook his duties for some time 17 . Some authors referred either to his gout or his possible prostate benign hyperplasia, both considered to be diseases of older people, but the exact cause of his death is not clear, 18 as the sources simply focus on his prolonged life 19 . The contradictory interpretations of his behavioral changes can be explained by an insidious onset of primary symptoms that nobody from the imperial environment could date the exact time of.…”

Section: Byzantine Emperors With Suspected Dementiamentioning

confidence: 99%