Identification ofTreponema pallidumSubspeciespallidumin a 200‐Year‐Old Skeletal Specimen

Connie J. Kolman · Arturo Centurion‐Lara · Sheila A. Lukehart · Douglas W. Owsley · Noreen Tuross

138 citations0/0 files storedThe Journal of Infectious Diseases

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Paleopathology and ancient diseases History of Medicine and Tropical Health Syphilis Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the causative agent of venereal syphilis, was detected in a 200-year-old skeletal specimen from Easter Island. An initial diagnosis of treponemal infection was confirmed by extensive purification of immunoglobulin that reacted strongly with T. pallidum antigen. Extracted DNA exhibited a single-base polymorphism that distinguished T.p. subsp. pallidum from 4 other human and nonhuman treponemes. Extensive precautions against contamination of the subject matter with modern treponemal DNA were employed, including analysis of archaeological and modern specimens in 2 geographically separate laboratories. Molecular determination of historical disease states by using skeletal material can significantly enhance our understanding of the pathology and spread of infectious diseases.

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References

2003Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains 1985Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains 1994Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in a pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy.1994In the wake of contact: biological responses to conquest 1988The Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis: Paleopathological Diagnosis and Interpretation [and Comments and Reply]

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2017Proteomic profiling of archaeological human bone 2009Tuberculosis and leprosy in perspective 2005The limits of biomolecular palaeopathology: ancient DNA cannot be used to study venereal syphilis 2019Bacterial Infections 2006SL1 RNA gene recovery from Enterobius vermicularis ancient DNA in pre-Columbian human coprolites 2018Historic Treponema pallidum genomes from Colonial Mexico retrieved from archaeological remains 2002Molecular analysis of ancient microbial infections 2013Palaeopathology and genes: Investigating the genetics of infectious diseases in excavated human skeletal remains and mummies from past populations

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