Molecular analysis of skeletal tuberculosis in an ancient Egyptian population

Zink, Albert; Haas, Christian; Reischl, Udo; Szeimies, Ulrike; Nerlich, Andreas G.

doi:10.1099/0022-1317-50-4-355

Cited by 139 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Gene fragments from eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms have been successfully detected from human bones and tissues (Fricker et al 1997, Ubaldi et al 1998, Gulh et al 1999, Cano et al 2000, Ferreira et al 2000, Zink et al 2001. All of these studies focused on the recovery of aDNA from a specific organism or a determined gene sequence.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of ancient DNA from coprolites: a perspective with random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction approach

Iñiguez

Araújo

Ferreira

et al. 2003

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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confidence: 99%

Analysis of ancient DNA from coprolites: a perspective with random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction approach

Iñiguez

Araújo

Ferreira

et al. 2003

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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“…Mays et al 2001 derived from the paper using a M. tuberculosis genome size of 4 411 532 bases (Cole et al 1998 (1999) very high success rates given in published papers. In those studies working with relatively larger numbers (nO10) of archaeological samples, detection rates are between 55 and 75% for samples with some prior evidence for TB (Haas et al 2000;Zink et al 2001a;Fletcher et al 2003;Zink et al 2003). (4) While bacterial cells are generally more robust than those of humans, their nucleic acids are at a disadvantage with regard to long-term survival, as they are not integrated within bone structure in the way that human DNA is.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Partly, this is because ancient pathogen analyses have rejected technical standards employed in other ancient DNA work: high profile studies have sometimes incorporated high copy number templates as PCR positive controls (Salo et al 1994;Fricker et al 1997); the presence of host mitochondrial or nuclear DNA is not demonstrated (see, however, Taylor 1996;Barnes et al 2000;Zink et al 2001a); replication of results is not reported, or differences are found between replicates (Rothschild et al 2001;Taylor et al 2003); few studies conduct cloning of PCR products or quantification of template DNA (see, however, Zink et al 2001b); and identifications are made on the basis of PCR success or RFLP patterns rather than sequencing (Guhl et al 1999;Mays et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…55-75%: Haas et al 2000;Zink et al 2001a;Fletcher et al 2003;Zink et al 2003). These latter data compare favourably with published rates of detection using simple PCR-based systems on modern, diagnosed, clinical samples, which are around 80% (Portillo-Gomez et al 2000;Van der Spoel van Dijk et al 2000;Mitarai et al 2001;Narayanan et al 2001;Alfonso et al 2002;Yee et al 2002;Leung et al 2003;Cheng et al 2004), and higher than detection rates for blood (40%: Taci et al 2003), urine (56%: Kafwabulula et al 2002), and host DNA in studies of animal bones from temperate archaeological sites (around 10-20%: Haynes et al 2002;Edwards et al 2004).…”

Section: (Tpp15-l171 (Gcgttctgcccttttgacgttg)/h86 (Ccgactgctcagcccactmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating bacterial pathogen DNA preservation in museum osteological collections

Barnes

Thomas

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Reports of bacterial pathogen DNA sequences obtained from archaeological bone specimens raise the possibility of greatly improving our understanding of the history of infectious diseases. However, the survival of pathogen DNA over long time periods is poorly characterized, and scepticism remains about the reliability of these data.In order to explore the survival of bacterial pathogen DNA in bone specimens, we analysed samples from 59 eighteenth and twentieth century individuals known to have been infected with either Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Treponema pallidum. No reproducible evidence of surviving pathogen DNA was obtained, despite the use of extraction and PCR-amplification methods determined to be highly sensitive. These data suggest that previous studies need to be interpreted with caution, and we propose that a much greater emphasis is placed on understanding how pathogen DNA survives in archaeological material, and how its presence can be properly verified and used.

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“…This case of skeletal remains with evidence of spinal TB (presumed morphologically and confirmed by biomolecular analyses) contributes to available knowledge of the health of Roman-Period populations and the morphological aspects of bone TB. Our results show that biomolecular investigations are of vital importance for precise diagnosis and should be included as routine procedures in paleopathological investigations (Taylor et al 1996, Zink et al 2001, Fletcher et al 2003a, b, Donoghue et al 2005, Hershkovitz et al 2008, Évinger et al 2011, Hajdu et al 2012. …”

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confidence: 99%

Bone tuberculosis in Roman Period Pannonia (western Hungary)

Hajdu

Fóthi

Kővári³

et al. 2012

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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Paleopathology is an important branch of physical anthropology, it involves the study of injuries and disease processes in ancient human populations. Infectious diseases are the most significant selective factors affecting human populations and they cause the most important pathological processes resulting in changes in bones. Specific bacterial causes of disease are associated with characteristic bone lesions that do not occur with infection caused by other bacterias. Examples of such infections include tuberculosis (TB), treponematosis and leprosy (Manchester 1983).Estimating the exact prevalence of skeletal TB in ancient populations is very difficult. Approximately 5% of chronic TB cases show typical lesions in the skeleton (Donoghue et al. 2004). Moreover, the results of the examination of a skeleton can be influenced by post-mortem damage to the skeletal remains resulting from burial. This paper presents the investigation of a skeleton that displayed changes suggestive of tuberculous spondylitis.In 2009, three skeletons from the Roman Period (second half of the III-IV centuries) were excavated in Győr, in western Hungary (Győr-Frigyes Laktanya site). These skeletons were found at a smaller settlement located near Arrabona, along the trade route between Arrabona and Savaria, another Roman settlement. Arrabona was built on the site of a modern-day town and an earlier Celtic settlement and it was one of the most important auxiliary Roman forts of the Danube Limes (Gabler 1967, Visy 2003a. The skeletal materials were kept in the Xántus János Museum in Győr. Morphological sex was determined and the age at death was estimated by the recommendations of Rösing et al. (2007). The paleopathological analysis was conducted by gross observation (Ortner 2003).Of the three specimens, one (KE69, male, 35-50 years old) showed no pathological changes in the skull or postcranial bones. Another (KE90, female, 25-35 years old) had no pathological lesions in the skull, but had nonspecific changes in the bones of the lower limbs. This skeleton showed slight periostitis on the medial surface of the left tibia and osteomyelitis in the right tibia, at the nutrient foramen.The third specimen (KE91), a complete skeleton of a 25-30-year-old female, had severe and distinctive lesions. The skeleton was well preserved and all the bones could be examined. Changes indicative of spinal TB were limited to certain sections of the spine, such as the thoracic region. The anterior and lateral surfaces of all the vertebral bones showed slight hypervascularisation and porosity was noted on these surfaces as well as on the upper and lower intervertebral plates. The porosity and hypervascularisation were more pronounced in the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Hypertrophic bone formation was observed in the second and third thoracic vertebrae (T2-T3) and marginal lipping, porosity and bone reaction were observed in the T4-T5 vertebral bodies. The most characteristic pathological changes were seen in the third and fourth thoracic vertebrae (Figs 1, 2). R...

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Molecular analysis of skeletal tuberculosis in an ancient Egyptian population

Cited by 139 publications

References 16 publications

Analysis of ancient DNA from coprolites: a perspective with random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction approach

Analysis of ancient DNA from coprolites: a perspective with random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction approach

Evaluating bacterial pathogen DNA preservation in museum osteological collections

Bone tuberculosis in Roman Period Pannonia (western Hungary)

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