Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of an introduced sexually transmitted disease?

Knell, Robert J.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0131

Cited by 75 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Based on >500 headto-head virus competition experiments, the recent HIV-1 isolates were significantly less fit than the historical isolates 121 . These findings indicate that HIV-1 might have attenuated in replicative fitness over the past [15][16][17][18] years. If the fitness of the infecting HIV-1 strain is a predictor of disease progression [29][30][31][32] , reduced ex vivo fitness in PBMC might be a strong correlate of decreased virulence.…”

Section: Hivmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…This virus might have attenuated as a result of altered immunomodulatory properties in addition to a reduction in the replication rate 13,14 . More recent analyses of archived reports from the fifteenth century suggest that the dramatic decrease in the severity of syphilis symptoms that took place over a period of less than 10 years was related to a reduction in virulence rather than the selection of resistant hosts 15 . Rapid (decades to centuries) versus slow (thousand to millions of years) attenuation might be related to the severity of disease, the rate of lethality and the transmission efficiency or transmission routes.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Is HIV-1 evolving to a less virulent form in humans?

2007

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| During the rapid spread of HIV-1 in humans, the main (M) group of HIV-1 has evolved into ten distinct subtypes, undergone countless recombination events and diversified extensively. The impact of this extreme genetic diversity on the phenotype of HIV-1 has only recently become a research focus, but early findings indicate that the dominance of HIV-1 subtype C in the current epidemic might be related to the lower virulence of this subtype compared with other subtypes. Here, we explore whether HIV-1 has reached peak virulence or has already started the slow path to attenuation.

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Section: Hivmentioning

confidence: 84%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is HIV-1 evolving to a less virulent form in humans?

2007

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“…Parasites that are primarily transmitted during mating are therefore likely to experience stronger selection to be cryptic, which may explain why asymptomatic outcomes are generally more common among sexually transmitted infections (22). For example, syphilis rapidly evolved to become milder and less conspicuous following its introduction to Europe during the fifteenth century, most likely due to transmission-avoidance behavior in the human population (56).…”

Section: Infectious Dose) (H) Mate Choice Is Maximized (And Virulencmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coevolution of parasite virulence and host mating strategies

Ashby

Boots

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Parasites are thought to play an important role in sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies, which in turn are likely to be critical to the transmission and therefore the evolution of parasites. Despite this clear interdependence we have little understanding of parasite-mediated sexual selection in the context of reciprocal parasite evolution. Here we develop a general coevolutionary model between host mate preference and the virulence of a sexually transmitted parasite. We show when the characteristics of both the host and parasite lead to coevolutionarily stable strategies or runaway selection, and when coevolutionary cycling between high and low levels of host mate choosiness and virulence is possible. A prominent argument against parasites being involved in sexual selection is that they should evolve to become less virulent when transmission depends on host mating success. The present study, however, demonstrates that coevolution can maintain stable host mate choosiness and parasite virulence or indeed coevolutionary cycling of both traits. We predict that choosiness should vary inversely with parasite virulence and that both relatively long and short life spans select against choosy behavior in the host. The model also reveals that hosts can evolve different behavioral responses from the same initial conditions, which highlights difficulties in using comparative analysis to detect parasitemediated sexual selection. Taken as a whole, our results emphasize the importance of viewing parasite-mediated sexual selection in the context of coevolution.host-parasite coevolution | mate choice | virulence | transmission avoidance | sexually transmitted infection S ince Hamilton and Zuk (1) first proposed that parasitism may explain the existence of secondary sex traits such as the peacock's tail, there has been considerable interest in the role that parasites play in sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies (2-19). A prominent theory, known as the transmissionavoidance hypothesis, posits that secondary sex traits, and more generally, mating strategies, have evolved to limit the risk of contracting an infection (10). Although this theory emphasizes the importance of parasites in determining mating strategies, it is clear that different mating strategies will have an impact on infectious disease transmission and therefore influence parasite evolution. However, despite this clear interdependence we lack a coevolutionary theory of mating strategies that captures reciprocal adaptations by both species.Sex can leave individuals at risk of infection due to sustained close contact with sexual partners or through the transfer of genetic material (20). Hence, sexually transmitted infections, which are common in both plants (21) and animals (22), are likely to be a key factor in the evolution of mating strategies. Furthermore, sexually transmitted infections typically exhibit different epidemiological dynamics (17, 23) and disease outcomes (e.g., sterility rather than mortality; ref. 22) to other in...

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“…There is substantial circumstantial evidence that historical changes towards reduced virulence of syphilis were associated with a shift from non-sexual to sexual transmission [137]. …”

Section: Evolution Of Transmission Mode and Human Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of transmission mode

Antonovics

Wilson

Forbes

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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This article reviews research on the evolutionary mechanisms leading to different transmission modes. Such modes are often under genetic control of the host or the pathogen, and often in conflict with each other via trade-offs. Transmission modes may vary among pathogen strains and among host populations. Evolutionary changes in transmission mode have been inferred through experimental and phylogenetic studies, including changes in transmission associated with host shifts and with evolution of the unusually complex life cycles of many parasites. Understanding the forces that determine the evolution of particular transmission modes presents a fascinating medley of problems for which there is a lack of good data and often a lack of conceptual understanding or appropriate methodologies. Our best information comes from studies that have been focused on the vertical versus horizontal transmission dichotomy. With other kinds of transitions, theoretical approaches combining epidemiology and population genetics are providing guidelines for determining when and how rapidly new transmission modes may evolve, but these are still in need of empirical investigation and application to particular cases. Obtaining such knowledge is a matter of urgency in relation to extant disease threats.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Opening the black box: re-examining the ecology and evolution of parasite transmission’.

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Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of an introduced sexually transmitted disease?

Cited by 75 publications

References 20 publications

Is HIV-1 evolving to a less virulent form in humans?

Is HIV-1 evolving to a less virulent form in humans?

Coevolution of parasite virulence and host mating strategies

The evolution of transmission mode

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