Abstract:Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that continues to take its toll on human lives. Paleopathological research indicates that it has been a significant cause of death among humans for at least five thousand years. Because of the devastating consequences to human health, social systems, and endangered primate species, TB has been the subject of many and varied research efforts throughout the world, efforts that are amassing an enormous amount of data concerning the causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculo… Show more
“…Studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms of Mycobacterium leprae have suggested that leprosy originated in Africa and that the Hansen disease cases in the Americas are from European and African descendants as a result of emigration and the slave trade (11). Even though molecular evidence of the presence of M. tuberculosis in the pre-Colombian age has been reported (19,25), controversy over this issue remains. If tuberculosis existed in native populations, the prevalence of specific spoligotypes would shrink significantly, since the population of about 22 million people living in Mesoamerica in 1520 was reduced by 95% by 1600, mainly because of infectious diseases (1).…”
Although tuberculosis is still a public health problem in Mexico, there is little information about the genetic characteristics of the isolates. In the present study, we analyzed by spoligotyping 180 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from the urban area of Monterrey, Mexico, including drug-susceptible and drug-resistant isolates. The spoligotype patterns were compared with those in the international SITVIT2 spoligotyping database. Four isolates presented spoligotype patterns not found in the database (orphan types); the rest were distributed among 44 spoligo international types (SITs). SIT53 (clade T1) and SIT119 (clade X1) were predominant and included 43 (23.8%) and 28 (15.5%) of the isolates, respectively. In order to determine if there was a dominant spoligotype in the group of multidrug-resistant isolates, 37 of them were analyzed by IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assays, and scarce clustering of strains with more than five bands was observed. Fourteen isolates of this multidrug-resistant group presented four bands or less and were distributed in four SITs: SIT53 (n ؍ 8), SIT92 (n ؍ 3), SIT70 (n ؍ 2), and SIT3038 (n ؍ 1). When the molecular detection of mutations in the katG and rpoB genes were analyzed in these isolates with low copy numbers of IS6110, only two isolates shared the same IS6110, spoligotyping, and mutations patterns. When the distribution of the spoligotypes was analyzed by age cohort, SIT119 was predominantly found in patients 0 to 20 years old, especially in males, accounting for up to 40% of the isolates. In contrast, SIT53 was more prevalent in older females. This analysis demonstrates the variability of M. tuberculosis isolates in Monterrey and the partial dominance of SIT53 and SIT119 in that area of Mexico.
“…Studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms of Mycobacterium leprae have suggested that leprosy originated in Africa and that the Hansen disease cases in the Americas are from European and African descendants as a result of emigration and the slave trade (11). Even though molecular evidence of the presence of M. tuberculosis in the pre-Colombian age has been reported (19,25), controversy over this issue remains. If tuberculosis existed in native populations, the prevalence of specific spoligotypes would shrink significantly, since the population of about 22 million people living in Mesoamerica in 1520 was reduced by 95% by 1600, mainly because of infectious diseases (1).…”
Although tuberculosis is still a public health problem in Mexico, there is little information about the genetic characteristics of the isolates. In the present study, we analyzed by spoligotyping 180 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from the urban area of Monterrey, Mexico, including drug-susceptible and drug-resistant isolates. The spoligotype patterns were compared with those in the international SITVIT2 spoligotyping database. Four isolates presented spoligotype patterns not found in the database (orphan types); the rest were distributed among 44 spoligo international types (SITs). SIT53 (clade T1) and SIT119 (clade X1) were predominant and included 43 (23.8%) and 28 (15.5%) of the isolates, respectively. In order to determine if there was a dominant spoligotype in the group of multidrug-resistant isolates, 37 of them were analyzed by IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assays, and scarce clustering of strains with more than five bands was observed. Fourteen isolates of this multidrug-resistant group presented four bands or less and were distributed in four SITs: SIT53 (n ؍ 8), SIT92 (n ؍ 3), SIT70 (n ؍ 2), and SIT3038 (n ؍ 1). When the molecular detection of mutations in the katG and rpoB genes were analyzed in these isolates with low copy numbers of IS6110, only two isolates shared the same IS6110, spoligotyping, and mutations patterns. When the distribution of the spoligotypes was analyzed by age cohort, SIT119 was predominantly found in patients 0 to 20 years old, especially in males, accounting for up to 40% of the isolates. In contrast, SIT53 was more prevalent in older females. This analysis demonstrates the variability of M. tuberculosis isolates in Monterrey and the partial dominance of SIT53 and SIT119 in that area of Mexico.
“…As described by Wilbur and Buikstra [71], social disruption, forced mobility, crowding onto reservations, poor sanitation, extreme poverty, and malnutrition, with frequent exposure to pathogens, contributed to TB as a population-wide health problem. This was the case with the Tenetehara-Guajajara people since the 18th century.…”
Tuberculosis (TB) has been described in Native American populations prior to the arrival of European explorers, and in Brazilian populations dating from the Colonial Period. There are no studies demonstrating TB infection in native Brazilians, and the history and epidemiological scenario of TB in Brazil is still unknown. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of TB infection among the native Tenetehara-Guajajara population from Maranhão State, Brazil, 210 ± 40 years ago. A Tenetehara-Guajajara skeleton collection was submitted to paleopathological analysis, and rib bone samples (n = 17) were used for paleogenetic analysis based on Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) targets. Porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia were found in 10 and 13 individuals, respectively. Maternal ancestry analysis revealed Native American mtDNA haplogroups A and C1 in three individuals. Three samples showed osteological evidence suggestive of TB. katG and mtp40 sequences were detected in three individuals, indicating probable TB infection by two MTC lineages. Tuberculosis infection in the Tenetehara-Guajajara population since the 18th century points to a panorama of the disease resulting, most probably, from European contact. However, the important contribution of African slaves in the population of Maranhão State, could be also considered as a source of the disease. This study provides new data on TB during the Brazilian Colonial Period. This is the first report integrating paleopathological and paleogenetic data for the study of TB in Brazil.
“…One cause of criba orbitaria is iron deficiency anaemia, and in severe cases this enhances the virulence of MTB infection (Ratledge 2004). It has been suggested that the iron status within pre-Columbian populations in the Americas may have had a profound impact on the clinical presentation of the disease (Wilbur and Buikstra 2006). Work is just starting on the impact of neoplastic disease, but tuberculosis infection has been detected in an infant with Langerhans cell histiocytosis from the Vác mummy study group .…”
Section: Lowered Host Resistance or Increased Susceptibilitymentioning
The study of tuberculosis palaeomicrobiology has proved to be most rewarding. Due to the characteristic palaeopathological lesions, tuberculosis was recognised in archaeological material and was the first infectious disease to be studied by modern biomolecular methods. The combination of a tough bacterial cell wall and GC-rich DNA has resulted in excellent DNA preservation in some specimens. A wide range of specific molecular diagnostic and typing methods, developed by clinical microbiologists, are available. These have been applied successfully to archaeological material, resulting in the genotyping of the infecting organisms.
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