First Paleogenetic Evidence of Probable Syphilis and Treponematoses Cases in the Brazilian Colonial Period

Despite interest in the origins of syphilis, paleopathological analysis has not provided answers, and paleogenetic diagnosis remains a challenge. Even venereal syphilis has low infectivity which means there are few circulating bacteria for most of the individual's life. Human remains recovered from the Nossa Senhora do Carmo Church (17th to 19th centuries) and the Praça XV Cemetery (18th to 19th centuries), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were subjected to Treponema paleogenetic analysis. Historical data point to endemic treponemal infections in the city, including venereal syphilis. Based on the physiopathology of Treponema pallidum infection, 25 samples, mostly from skull remains of young adults, with no visible paleopathological evidence of treponematoses, were analyzed. PCR with three molecular targets, tpp47, polA, and tpp15, were applied. Ancient DNA tpp15 sequences were recovered from two young adults from each archaeological site and revealed the polymorphism that characterizes T. p. subsp. pallidum in a female up to 18 years old, suggesting a probable case of syphilis infection. The results indicated that the epidemiological context and the physiopathology of the disease should be considered in syphilis paleogenetic detection. The findings of Treponema sp. aDNA are consistent with historical documents that describe venereal syphilis and yaws as endemic diseases in Rio de Janeiro. Data on the epidemiological characteristics of the disease and its pathophysiology offer new perspectives in paleopathology.

Human mobility on the Brazilian coast: an analysis of strontium isotopes in archaeological human remains from Forte Marechal Luz Sambaqui

This study investigated strontium isotopes in the dental enamel of 32 human skeletons from Forte Marechal Luz sambaqui (shellmound), Santa Catarina, Brazil, aiming at identifying local and non-local individuals. The archeological site presents pot sherds in the uppermost archeological layers. Dental enamel was also examined from specimens of terrestrial fauna ((87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.71046 to 0.71273) and marine fauna ((87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.70917). The (87)Sr/(86)Sr isotope ratio for individuals classified as locals ranged from 0. 70905 to 0. 71064 and was closer to the isotope ratio of the seawater than to the ratio of the terrestrial fauna, indicating a strong influence of marine strontium on the inhabitants of this sambaqui. The results indicate the existence of three non-local individuals ((87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.70761 to 0.70835), buried in both the level without pottery and the layer with pottery, possibly originated from the Santa Catarina Plateau, close to the municipality of Lages, or from the Curitiba Plateau. The occurrence of a slight difference between the isotope ratios of local individuals buried in the archeological layer without pottery, when compared to those in the layer with pottery, suggests a possible change in dietary patterns between these two moments in the site's occupation.

Prehistoric tuberculosis in america: adding comments to a literature review

Tuberculosis is a prehistoric American human disease. This paper reviews the literature and discusses hypotheses for origins and epidemiological patterns of prehistoric tuberculosis. From the last decades, 24 papers about prehistoric tuberculosis were published and 133 cases were reviewed. In South America most are isolated case studies, contrary to North America where more skeletal series were analyzed. Disease was usually located at the deserts of Chile and Peru, Central Plains in USA, and Lake Ontario in Canada. Skeletal remains represent most of the cases, but 16 mummies have also been described. Thirty individuals had lung disease, 19 of them diagnosed by the ribs. More then 100 individuals had osseous tuberculosis and 26 also had it in other organs. As today, transmission of the infection and establishment of the disease were favored by cultural and life-style changes such as sedentarization, crowding, undernutrition, use of dark and insulated houses, and by the frequency of interpersonal contacts. The papers confirm that despite previous perceptions, tuberculosis seems to have occurred in America for millennia. It only had epidemiological expression when special conditions favored its expansion. Occurring as epidemic bursts or low endemic disease, it had differential impact on groups or social segments in America for at least two millennia.

Paleoepidemiology: is there a case to answer?

Paleopathology is the study of disease, physiological disruptions and impairment in the past. After two centuries of mainly descriptive studies, efforts are being made towards better methodological approaches to the study of diseases in human populations of ancient times whose remains are recovered by archaeology. Paleoepidemiology can be defined as an interdisciplinary area that aims to develop more suitable epidemiological methods, and to apply those in current use, to the study of disease determinants in human populations in the past. In spite of the limits of funerary or other archaeological series of human remains, paleoepidemiology tries to reconstruct past conditions of disease and health in those populations and its relation to lifestyle and environment. Although considering the limits of studying populations of deceased, most of them represented exclusively by bones and teeth, the frequency of lesions and other biological signs of interest to investigations on health, and their relative distribution in the skeletal remains by age and sex, can be calculated, and interpreted according to the ecological and cultural information available in each case. Building better models for bone pathology and bone epidemiology, besides a more complex theoretical frame for paleoepidemiological studies is a big job for the future that will need the incorporation of methods and technology from many areas, including the tools of molecular biology.