Paléoparasitologie et immunologie. L’exemple d’Entamoeba histolytica

A comparative study of parasites in three latrines from Medieval and Renaissance Brussels, Belgium (14th–17th centuries)

“…The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing employed commercially available kits produced by TECHLAB ® . The ELISA kits which were designed to detect antigens from Cryptosporidum spp., E. histolytica and G. duodenalis have been successfully used on archaeological material for many years (Gonçalves et al ., 2002; Le Bailly and Bouchet, 2006, 2015; Mitchell et al ., 2008). These test kits have been found to have 98–100% sensitivity and specificity in modern clinical trials of fresh feces (Sharp et al ., 2001; Verkerke et al ., 2015).…”

Past Intestinal Parasites

“…However, the use of additional solution for sample preservation and storage (formalin, for example) can be problematic. Le Bailly and Bouchet (30,38) proposed rehydrating samples intended for immunological tests with only ultrapure water at 2 to 5°C to avoid the development of fungi or algae. Water rehydration should not interfere with the antibody-antigen link reactions.…”

“…They are much more fragile than helminth eggs and require extreme conditions of preservation, such as a permanently frozen or dry environment. The recovery of ancient cysts is very rare because of this fragility (37,38), and the study of ancient protozoa requires other techniques, as is explained below.…”

“…Some years later, Faulkner et al (40) obtained the first positive results by using indirect immunofluorescence on a coprolite from the Big Bone Cave in Tennessee (United States) that was radiocarbon dated to 2177 ± 145 BP. Since then, other studies using immunological assays (ELISA, immunofluorescence, immunochromatography) have been done and have successfully recovered intestinal protozoa in archaeological samples (27,30,38,(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46).…”

Paleoparasitology in Russia, history and prospects

“…It is well known that parasitic Protozoa and their cysts are not always traceable in the contemporary material (Gavrilova and Proskuryakova, 2015;Konyaev et al, 2015;Eckmann, 2003;Todozakova and Medkova, 2016). Nevertheless, molecular methods have successfully been applied in such kinds of research to identify leishmaniasis (Zink et al, 2006), amoebiasis (Gonçalves et al, 2004;Le Bailly and Bouchet, 2006), trypanosomiasis (Guhl et al, 1999;Madden et al, 2001;Arajuo et al, 2007;Aufderheide et al, 2004), and giardiasis (Gonçalves et al, 2002;Le Bailly et al, 2008). Molecular techniques have been applied not in archaeological researches only.…”