DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens
DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens
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DOI：
10.1016/j.ijid.2005.09.001
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发表时间：
2006-05-01
影响因子：
8.4
通讯作者：
Baziotopoulou-Valavani, Effie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Papagrigorakis, Manolis J.;Yapijakis, Christos;Baziotopoulou-Valavani, Effie
背景：到目前为止，在缺乏直接的微生物学证据的情况下，雅典瘟疫的起因在科学家中仍然存在争议，他们完全依靠修昔底德的叙述来引入几种可能的诊断。雅典Kerameikos古墓地出土的一个集体墓穴，可以追溯到鼠疫爆发时期(公元前430年左右)，为研究古代微生物DNA提供了所需的骨骼材料。目的：确定雅典鼠疫的可能原因。方法：牙髓是我们选择的材料，因为它具有良好的血管化、耐用性和自然灭菌性，是古代败血症微生物的理想DNA来源。结果：针对鼠疫(鼠疫耶尔森氏菌)、伤寒(普氏立克次体)、炭疽(炭疽杆菌)、结核病(结核分枝杆菌)等病原体的基因组部分进行了6次DNA扩增牛痘(牛痘病毒)和猫抓病(巴尔通体亨氏巴尔通体)在从三颗古老牙齿中分离出来的DNA样本的自杀反应中没有产生任何产物。在第七次这样的尝试中，伤寒沙门氏菌的DNA序列被鉴定出来，这为从Kerameikos乱葬坑中发现的牙齿的牙髓中存在该微生物提供了明确的证据。结论：本研究结果明确地表明伤寒可能是雅典鼠疫的原因之一。(C)2005年国际传染病学会。爱思唯尔有限公司出版。保留所有权利。
Background: Until now, in the absence of direct microbiological evidence, the cause of the Plague of Athens has remained a matter of debate among scientists who have relied exclusively on Thucydides' narrations to introduce several possible diagnoses. A mass burial pit, unearthed in the Kerameikos ancient cemetery of Athens and dated back to the time of the plague outbreak (around 430 BC), has provided the required skeletal material for the investigation of ancient microbial DNA.Objective: To determine the probable cause of the Plague of Athens.Method: Dental pulp was our material of choice, since it has been proved to be an ideal DNA source of ancient septicemic microorganisms through its good vascularization, durability and natural sterility.Results: Six DNA amplifications targeted at genomic parts of the agents of plague (Yersinia pestis), typhus (Rickettsia prowozekii), anthrax (Bacillus anthrocis), tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), cowpox (cowpox virus) and cat-scratch disease (Bartonella henselae) failed to yield any product in 'suicide' reactions of DNA samples isolated from three ancient teeth. On the seventh such attempt, DNA sequences of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi were identified providing clear evidence for the presence of that microorganism in the dental pulp of teeth recovered from the Kerameikos mass grave.Conclusion: The results of this study clearly implicate typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens. (c) 2005 International Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.