Oumarou Hama H, Boualam MA, Levasseur A, Ardagna Y, Adalian P, Chaix AC, Drancourt M. Old World Medieval Treponema pallidum Complex Treponematosis: A Case Report.
J Infect Dis 2023;
228:503-510. [PMID:
37440462 DOI:
10.1093/infdis/jiad248]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Introduction of 1 Treponema pallidum complex pathogen in naive European populations following the return of Christopher Columbus' troops from Central America in 1493 is a central dogma in venereology.
METHODS
Among skeletal elements from the seventh or eighth century uncovered in Roquevaire, France, individual RS-1003 femur macroscopically suspected of having an infectious disease was investigated by means of paleoautoimmunohistochemistry, direct metagenomics, and paleoserology, along with 1 control femur from an apparently healthy individual (R-1003) and experimental negative controls.
RESULTS
RS-1003 femur showed infectious bone; paleoautoimmunohistochemistry of the lesions led to microscopic detection of a T. pallidum complex pathogen. Phylogenetic analyses comprising 71 T. pallidum complex-specific reads covering 2.37% of the T. pallidum subsp. pallidum reference genome sequence revealed an ancestral T. pallidum complex pathogen in the lesion. Paleoserology detecting T. pallidum-specific antigens confirmed positive serological findings in individual RS-1003. Individual R-1003 and the negative controls remained negative.
CONCLUSIONS
This case, predating by 8 centuries previous detections of T. pallidum complex treponematosis in Europe, indicated that European populations were not naive to these pathogens before the 1493 introduction of a Central American T. pallidum complex pathogen overwhelming the T. pallidum ones previously circulating in the Old World. These data break a century-old dogma in medical microbiology.
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