Improving the extraction of ancient Yersinia pestis genomes from the dental pulp

Ancient DNA preserved in the dental pulp offers the opportunity to characterize the genome of some of the deadliest pathogens in human history. However, while DNA capture technologies help, focus sequencing efforts, and therefore, reduce experimental costs, the recovery of ancient pathogen DNA remains challenging. Here, we tracked the kinetics of ancient Yersinia pestis DNA release in solution during a pre-digestion of the dental pulp. We found that most of the ancient Y. pestis DNA is released within 60 min at 37°C in our experimental conditions. We recommend a simple pre-digestion as an economical procedure to obtain extracts enriched in ancient pathogen DNA, as longer digestion times release other types of templates, including host DNA. Combining this procedure with DNA capture, we characterized the genome sequences of 12 ancient Y. pestis bacteria from France dating to the second pandemic outbreaks of the 17^th and 18^th centuries Common Era.

No particular genomic features underpin the dramatic economic consequences of 17th century plague epidemics in Italy

The 17^th century plague epidemic had a particularly strong demographic toll in Southern Europe, especially Italy, where it caused long-lasting economical damage. Whether this resulted from ineffective sanitation measures or more pathogenic Yersinia pestis strains remains unknown. DNA screening of 26 skeletons from the 1629-1630 plague cemetery of Lariey (French Alps) identified two teeth rich in plague genetic material. Further sequencing revealed two Y. pestis genomes phylogenetically closest to those from the 1636 outbreak of San Procolo a Naturno, Italy. They both belonged to a cluster extending from the Alps to Northern Germany that probably propagated during the Thirty Years war. Sequence variation did not support faster evolutionary rates in the Italian genomes and revealed only rare private non-synonymous mutations not affecting virulence genes. This, and the more heterogeneous spatial diffusion of the epidemic outside Italy, suggests environmental or social rather than biological causes for the severe Italian epidemic trajectory.

Yersinia pestis: the Natural History of Plague

The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is responsible for deadly plague, a zoonotic disease established in stable foci in the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia. Its persistence in the environment relies on the subtle balance between Y. pestis-contaminated soils, burrowing and nonburrowing mammals exhibiting variable degrees of plague susceptibility, and their associated fleas. Transmission from one host to another relies mainly on infected flea bites, inducing typical painful, enlarged lymph nodes referred to as buboes, followed by septicemic dissemination of the pathogen. In contrast, droplet inhalation after close contact with infected mammals induces primary pneumonic plague. Finally, the rarely reported consumption of contaminated raw meat causes pharyngeal and gastrointestinal plague. Point-of-care diagnosis, early antibiotic treatment, and confinement measures contribute to outbreak control despite residual mortality. Mandatory primary prevention relies on the active surveillance of established plague foci and ectoparasite control. Plague is acknowledged to have infected human populations for at least 5,000 years in Eurasia. Y. pestis genomes recovered from affected archaeological sites have suggested clonal evolution from a common ancestor shared with the closely related enteric pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and have indicated that ymt gene acquisition during the Bronze Age conferred Y. pestis with ectoparasite transmissibility while maintaining its enteric transmissibility. Three historic pandemics, starting in 541 AD and continuing until today, have been described. At present, the third pandemic has become largely quiescent, with hundreds of human cases being reported mainly in a few impoverished African countries, where zoonotic plague is mostly transmitted to people by rodent-associated flea bites.

Long-term antihypertensive treatment improves ventricular-arterial interaction in hypertensive patients: a 3-year follow-up study

Background

We investigated the effects of antihypertensive treatment on vascular function, longitudinal deformation and ventricular-arterial interaction in hypertensives.

Methods

In 200 untreated patients with arterial hypertension (age 52.5±11.6 years, 56% females), we measured at baseline and after a 3-year of antihypertensive treatment (160 received ACEi± diuretics and 40 CCBs± diuretics): a) 24h ambulatory blood pressure b) Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) b) Coronary flow reserve (CFR), LV mass index (LVMI), the global longitudinal strain (GLS). We calculated the ratio of PWV/GLS (-m/sec%) reflecting the ventricular-arterial interaction.

Results

Compared to baseline, there was an improvement of GLS (−19.9±3.4 vs. −18.7±3.1%), post-treatment. In parallel, there were improvement in CFR (2.72±0.61 vs. 2.55±0.64), PWV (10.3±1.9 vs. 11.2±2.1 m/s), LVMI and PWV/GLS (−0.539±0.146 vs. −0.618±0.178 -m/sec%) (p<0.01 for all comparisons). By multivariate analysis, the reduction of 24h meanBP as well as PWV independently determined the respective improvement of GLS (b=0.478, b=0.248, respectively, p<0.001). By ANOVA, the interaction term between changes of all the above parameters and antihypertensive treatment (ACE inhibitors vs calcium channel blockers) was not significant (p>0.05).

Conclusions

Long-term optimal blood pressure control with ACE inhibitors and CCBs improves LV longitudinal deformation along with reduction of arterial stiffness, leading to improved ventricular-arterial interaction in hypertensives.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

Association arterial stiffness reduction with improved left ventricular longitudinal and torsional deformation after 3 years of antihypertensive treatment

Background

We investigated the effects of antihypertensive treatment on vascular function, longitudinal and torsional deformation in hypertensives.

Methods

In 200 untreated patients with arterial hypertension (age 52.5±11.6 years, 56% females), we measured at baseline and after a 3-year of antihypertensive treatment (160 received ACEi± diuretics and 40 CCBs± diuretics): a) 24h ambulatory blood pressure b) Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) b) Coronary flow reserve (CFR), LV mass index (LVMI), the global longitudinal strain (GLS) and diastolic (LongSRSE) strain rate, peak twisting (Tw-deg) and untwisting at mitral valve opening (UtwMVO), at peak E (UtwE) and at the end of the E wave (UtwendE) of the mitral inflow as well as twisting (TwVel-deg/sec) velocity using speckle tracking imaging. We calculated the % change of LV untwisting as difference between peakTw and UtwMVO, UtwpeakE and UtwendE.

Results

Compared to baseline, there was an improvement of GLS (−19.9±3.4 vs. −18.7±3.1%), LongSRS (−1.08±0.22 vs. −0.98±0.26 1/s), LongSRE (1.09±0.36 vs. 0.99±0.31 1/s), peak Tw (16.2±5.1 vs. 18.7±5.9 deg), Tw velocity, and the %LV untwisting (31.04±19.28 vs 26.02±15.69% at MVO, 60.04±19.78 vs 53.96±19.76% at peakE and 79.98±14.24 vs 75.90±17.01% at endE) post-treatment. In parallel, CFR (2.72±0.61 vs. 2.55±0.64), PWV (10.34±1.93 vs. 11.2±2.08 m/s) and LVMI were improved (p<0.01 for all comparisons). By ANOVA, the interaction term between changes of all the above parameters and antihypertensive treatment (ACE inhibitors vs calcium channel blockers) was not significant (p>0.05). By multivariate analysis, the reduction of 24h meanBP and PWV independently determined the respective improvement of GLS (b=0.478 and b=0.248 respectively), LongS (b=0.428 and b=0.201 respectively) as well as Twisting (b=0.449 and b=0.294 respectively) after adjusting for changes in LV mass, CFR and atherosclerotic risk factors (p<0.05).

Conclusions

Long-term optimal blood pressure control with ACE inhibitors and CCBs improves LV longitudinal and torsional mechanics in hypertensives in parallel with arterial stiffness and blood pressure. This improvement in LV deformation and twisting was independently related to changes in arterial blood pressure and arterial stiffness.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: None

When a lost "Petit Prince" meets Antoine de Saint Exupéry: An anthropological case report

This case study reports the anthropological analysis of bones remains discovered on Riou Island (Marseille, France) and the story of two World War II fighter pilots. The discovery of bones on "The Fountain of the Greeks" square on Riou Island occurred in the 1960's and a first anthropological study described a 35-year-old man, about 1.77 m tall, buried since an estimated period between the 13th and 16th centuries. The case was "closed" and the bones were considered as isolated archaeological remains. Few years later, near the coasts of Riou Island, parts of two planes were discovered. One was from of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 of the Luftwaffe piloted by Prince Alexis fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt, and the other from a French P-38 Lightning F-5 B piloted by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Therefore, the identification of the skeletal remains mentioned above was then thought to be perhaps one of the two World War II pilots. In this particular context we performed forensic and molecular biology analyses to resolve this identification.

Paleoproteomics of the Dental Pulp: The plague paradigm

Chemical decomposition and fragmentation may limit the detection of ancient host and microbial DNA while some proteins can be detected for extended periods of time. We applied paleoproteomics on 300-year-old dental pulp specimens recovered from 16 individuals in two archeological funeral sites in France, comprising one documented plague site and one documented plague-negative site. The dental pulp paleoproteome of the 16 teeth comprised 439 peptides representative of 30 proteins of human origin and 211 peptides representative of 27 proteins of non-human origin. Human proteins consisted of conjunctive tissue and blood proteins including IgA immunoglobulins. Four peptides were indicative of three presumable Yersinia pestis proteins detected in 3/8 dental pulp specimens from the plague-positive site but not in the eight dental pulp specimens collected in the plague-negative site. Paleoproteomics applied to the dental pulp is a new and innovative approach to screen ancient individuals for the detection of blood-borne pathogens and host inflammatory response.

[Study of remains and dental wastes of a First World War German rest camp]

INTRODUCTION

This article presents the analysis of dental remains and waste from the dental office of a German rest camp of the First World War in order to study the living conditions of the soldiers, the care policy and the prosthetic rehabilitation techniques used in this context.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included both dental and prosthetic remains, revealed during the excavation. The criteria to determine dental and periodontal health were the presence or absence of caries, wear, tartar and periodontal lesion. Location, severity and frequency of each of these parameters were examined. Regarding the prosthetic remains, the type of prosthesis and the materials used were determined.

RESULTS

Three hundred and twenty seven (327) dental remains were analyzed. A high prevalence of large caries, especially in the molar areas, was highlighted. The incisal areas had however more wear and tartar. 183 casts of plaster dental arcade allowed to highlight a significant proportion of posterior edentulous. Prosthetic remains and laboratory waste revealed the use of vulcanite and porcelain for making dentures.

A geographic information system for the study of past epidemics: The 1705 epidemic in Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Provence region was hit by several severe epidemics whose causes are still not clearly understood.To draw up epidemic profiles and to identify the pathogenic agents concerned, we constituted a large onomastic database and built ageographic information system for Martigues, a medium-sized community in the south of France. The cross-linking of epidemiological,spatial and demographical data allows us to propose a new diagnosis for the epidemic which reached Martigues in the autumn of 1705.

[Historical and biological approaches to the study of Modern Age French plague mass burials]

The "Black Death" and subsequent epidemics from 1346 to the early 18th century spread from the Caspian Sea all over Europe six hundred years after the outbreak of the Justinian plague (541-767 AD). Plague has been one of the most devastating infectious diseases that affected the humankind and has caused approximately 200 million human deaths historically. Here we describe the different approaches adopted in the study of several French putative plague mass burials dating to the Modern Age (16th-18th centuries). Through complementation of historical, archaeological and paleobiological data, ample knowledge of both the causes that favoured the spread of the Medieval plague in cities, towns and small villages and of the modification of the customary funerary practices in urban and rural areas due to plague are gained.

Incremental value of pulse wave velocity in the determination of coronary microcirculatory dysfunction in never-treated patients with essential hypertension

BACKGROUND

Coronary microcirculation is disturbed in essential hypertension. We investigated whether arterial stiffness determines coronary flow reserve (CFR) in hypertensive patients.

METHODS

We examined 100 never-treated hypertensives and 20 healthy controls. We measured (i) carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV); (ii) Systolic (V (s)) and diastolic (V (d)) coronary flow velocity, time integral (V (TI)-V (d)) of diastolic velocity and CFR after adenosine by transthoracic echocardiography; (iii) ratio of E wave from mitral inflow to Em of mitral annulus, as an index of left ventricular (LV) diastolic pressures using tissue Doppler; (iv) carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), as an index of vascular damage; and (v) 24-h blood pressure parameters using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

RESULTS

Patients had abnormal PWV, IMT, E/Em, resting V (d)/V (s), and CFR than controls (P < 0.05). In hypertensives, PWV was related to abnormal IMT and E/Em which in turn were related to reduced CFR (P < 0.05). PWV and E/Em were independent determinants of CFR and V (d)/V (s) (P < 0.05) in hypertensives. When added to a model including age, sex, smoking, LV mass (LVM), heart rate, 24-h systolic blood pressure (SBP), and E/Em, PWV had an incremental value in the determination of CFR (r (2) change from 0.25 to 0.46, P < 0.01). PWV >10.7 m/s predicted a CFR <2 with 79 and 75% and a CFR <2.6 with 83 and 82% sensitivity and specificity, respectively, using adjusted-receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated LV diastolic compressive forces on coronary microcirculation and the presence of generalized vascular damage may explain the association between PWV and CFR. PWV has an incremental value in the determination of impaired coronary microcirculation in hypertensive patients.

Yersinia pestis Orientalis in remains of ancient plague patients

Yersinia pestis DNA was recently detected in human remains from 2 ancient plague pandemics in France and Germany. We have now sequenced Y pestis glpD gene in such remains, showing a 93-bp deletion specific for biotype Orientalis. These data show that only Orientalis type caused the 3 plague pandemics.