On the age of leprosy.
On the age of leprosy.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544
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发表时间：
2014-02
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Silva FJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Han XY;Silva FJ
麻风是由麻风分枝杆菌和新发现的麻风分枝杆菌病引起的皮肤和神经的慢性感染。人类麻风病在古代文化中已有数千年的记录。最近对世界范围内麻风杆菌菌株的基因组研究进一步追踪到了过去∼100,000年来人类在全球范围内的传播。由于麻风杆菌严格地是细胞内的，我们想知道人类被这种致病寄生虫影响了多久。根据最近发表的麻风支原体基因组、麻风支原体发现、麻风杆菌进化和人类进化的数据，麻风杆菌很可能在数百万年前就开始在人类或早期原始人体内寄生进化。这使得麻风病成为人类特有的最古老的感染。这种独特的适应性进化可能塑造了人类免疫防御的懒惰增长和逃避，这可能解释了麻风的发病机制。因此，麻风病可以被视为长期寄生的自然结果。麻风的负担可能影响了人类遗传多态的次要选择。
Leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin and nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the newly discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Human leprosy has been documented for millennia in ancient cultures. Recent genomic studies of worldwide M. leprae strains have further traced it along global human dispersals during the past ∼100,000 years. Because leprosy bacilli are strictly intracellular, we wonder how long humans have been affected by this disease-causing parasite. Based on recently published data on M. leprae genomes, M. lepromatosis discovery, leprosy bacilli evolution, and human evolution, it is most likely that the leprosy bacilli started parasitic evolution in humans or early hominids millions of years ago. This makes leprosy the oldest human-specific infection. The unique adaptive evolution has likely molded the indolent growth and evasion from human immune defense that may explain leprosy pathogenesis. Accordingly, leprosy can be viewed as a natural consequence of a long parasitism. The burden of leprosy may have affected minor selection on human genetic polymorphisms.