Human tuberculosis--an ancient disease, as elucidated by ancient microbial biomolecules.

Immunological evidence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in an Egyptian child mummy from the Early Dynastic Period

Both origin and evolution of tuberculosis and its pathogens (Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex) are not fully understood. The paleopathological investigation of human remains offers a unique insight into the molecular evolution and spread including correlative data of the environment. The molecular analysis of material from Egypt (3000–500 BC), Sudan (200–600 AD), Hungary (600–1700 AD), Latvia (1200–1600 AD), and South Germany (1400–1800 AD) urprisingly revealed constantly high frequencies of tuberculosis in all different time periods excluding significant environmental influence on tuberculosis spread. The typing of various mycobacteria strains provides evidence for ancestral M. tuberculosis strains in Pre- to early Egyptian dynastic material (3500–2650 BC), while typical M. africanum signatures were detected in a Middle Kingdom tomb (2050–1650 BC). Samples from the New Kingdom to Late Period (1500–500 BC) indicated modern M. tuberculosis strains. No evidence was seen for M. bovis in Egyptian material while M. bovis signatures were first identified in Siberian biomaterial dating 2000 years before present. These results contraindicates the theory that M. tuberculosis evolved from M. bovis during early domestication in the region of the “Fertile Crescent,” but supports the scenario that M. tuberculosis probably derived from an ancestral progenitor strain. The environmental influence of this evolutionary scenario deserves continuing intense evaluation.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ipid/2009/437187.pdf

Paleopathology of human tuberculosis and the potential role of climate.

Tuberculosis is an ancient disease. It was recognised and described by Hippocratus (460–390 BCE) and Galen (2nd–3rd century CE) in the western Classical World (Xarchus & Bourandas, 2003), ancient Egypt, India and the Far East (Morse, 1961). The obvious symptoms that attracted attention were the late outcomes of skeletal tuberculosis, where collapsed vertebrae led to scoliosis and Pott's disease, plus the symptoms associated with pulmonary tuberculosis, such as fever, weight loss and haemoptysis (coughing up blood). In the UK, tubercular lesions of the lymph glands (cervical lymphadenitis) were formerly termed scrofula, or the King's evil, and tubercular skin lesions were described as Lupus vulgaris or tuberculous chancre. The palaeopathology of ancient skeletal remains, together with classical and historical reports, demonstrate that tuberculosis occurred in prehistory. However, tuberculosis is still the greatest cause of death from any single infectious disease in the world today, with over one third of the global population infected and an estimated 1.7 million deaths from the disease in 2009 (WHO, 2010). Therefore it is essential to understand the nature of tuberculosis in the past: its distribution, spread and relationship to human society.

/pdf/molecular-biomarkers-for-ancient-tuberculosis-2nuzpf9e4k.pdf

Molecular Biomarkers for Ancient Tuberculosis

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 fi rst 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 specifi c 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 infect- ing organisms. There has been a fruitful interaction with modern genomic studies, and ancient fi ndings support current views on the evolution of the species in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Questions remain to be answered, including the nature of pre-Columbian tuberculosis in the Americas, and the evolution of tuberculosis in animals. The important topics of interactions with other pathogenic microbes, and the host, are now being explored.

/pdf/palaeomicrobiology-of-tuberculosis-137xm3ig06.pdf

Palaeomicrobiology of Tuberculosis

We present 400 mummies excavated from two early Christian burial sites at Kulubnarti, between the 2nd and 3rd cataracts of the Nile in Northern Sudan, prior to the flooding caused by the Aswan Dam. One site was on an island in the Nile dated from 550-750 AD. The other was on the Nile western bank and was in use from c.750-1500 AD. Due to the exceptionally dry climate many of the remains were naturally mummified. Analysis of diet, via chemical examination of hair and of coprolites, had indicated possible deficiencies in vitamins B6, B12, folacin and vitamin C, suggesting iron deficiency. The presence of criba orbitalia, a pathological lesion of the roof of the eye socket (orbit), also suggests iron deficiency anaemia but may also be caused by inflammation. Anaemia is found in several infectious diseases, and severe iron deficiency increases susceptibility to disease. Tuberculosis was widespread in ancient and Roman Egypt, and there was historical contact with Upper Nubia via the Nile. The presence of Acacia pollen in coprolites suggested the possibility of leishmaniasis, as these trees are the habitat of the sand fly vector of the protozoan pathogen. The area is known today for the many infectious diseases afflicting its inhabitants, but were these present in antiquity? We have, therefore, undertaken a study of diseases in Kulubnarti. Initially we looked for evidence of tuberculosis and leishmaniasis. We anticipate shortly broadening the search to include brucellosis, malaria, hepatitis and West Nile fever viruses. Schistosomasis was considered but at this level the Nile flows swiftly and the intermediate host snail is not present so was at present not ocnsidered. Ribs were examined for Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA, using nested PCR targeting a123 bp sequence on the repetitive element IS6110. Material from the heads of the long bones, possible bone marrow, was examined for Leishmania species using a PCR which amplifies a 119 bp-conserved region of the minicircle kinetoplast DNA. Initial results indicate that M. tuberculosis and Leishmania sp were present in both populations.

/pdf/preliminary-findings-on-the-paleomicrobiological-study-of-2f0b7ukiwy.pdf

Preliminary findings on the paleomicrobiological study of 400 naturally mummified human remains from upper Nubia

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Preliminary findings on the paleomicrobiological study of 400 naturally mummified human remains from upper Nubia