title: Tuberculosis infection in a late-medieval Hungarian population.
abstract: The AD 16-17(th) century skeletal series from Bácsalmás-Óalmás (southern Hungary) has already been the subject of previous paleopathological studies concerning TB-related bone lesions. Due to recent development of macroscopic and molecular diagnostic methods in paleopathology and paleomicrobiology, a five-year international research program was recently started in order to re-evaluate the TB-related lesions in the complete series, comprising 481 skeletons. The skeletal material of these individuals was examined using macromorphological methods focusing on both classical/advanced stage skeletal TB alterations and atypical/early-stage TB lesions. Paleomicrobial analysis was used to study the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) DNA both in morphologically positive and negative cases. Samples were tested for the repetitive element IS6110 and further characterized by spoligotyping. In the whole series, 283 possible cases of TB infections were identified based on morphological alterations. Skeletal samples of eighteen individuals, morphologically positive as well as negative cases, were selected for further biomolecular examinations. Among them, seven individuals were PCR positive for the repetitive IS6110 sequence of the MTBC genome. Compared to the few cases of TB from the Bácsalmás-Óalmás series previously described, a much higher prevalence of MTBC infected skeletons was revealed in this study. The atypical/early stage skeletal lesions occurred significantly more frequently than the so-called classical alterations. Paleomicrobial analysis confirmed a prevalence of MTBC infection nearing 40% among the selected sample. Preliminary results also indicated better preservation of bacterial DNA in the compact layer of long bones and teeth, while spoligotyping suggested infection by different MTBC pathogens.
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; Department of Genetics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. Electronic address: posa.annamaria@gmail.com.
authors: Annamária
authors: A
authors: Pósa
authors: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC Research, Bolzano, Italy.
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Maixner
authors: Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule I2BC CEA-CNRS-Université Paris-Saclay, UMR9198, Bât. 400 F-91405 ORSAY-Cedex, France.
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Sola
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: Zsolt
authors: Z
authors: Bereczki
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: Erika
authors: E
authors: Molnár
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: Muriel
authors: M
authors: Masson
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; Municipal Museum of Subotica, Subotica, Serbia.
authors: Gabriella
authors: G
authors: Lovász
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. Electronic address: olga.spekker@gmail.com.
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Spekker
authors: Katona József Museum, Kecskemét, Hungary.
authors: Erika
authors: E
authors: Wicker
authors: Unité de Recherche MIVEGEC, UR 224/IRD, UMR 5290/CNRS, UM1, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France.
authors: Pascale
authors: P
authors: Perrin
authors: Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Biologique Paul Broca, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, UMR 5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France; Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Dutour
authors: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC Research, Bolzano, Italy.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Zink
authors: Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: György
authors: G
authors: Pálfi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D010164:Paleopathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D014394:Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Hungary; Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex; Paleopathology; Skeletal tuberculosis; aDNA