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Sankaranarayanan G, Kodiveri Muthukaliannan G. Exploring antimicrobial resistance determinants in the Neanderthal microbiome. Microbiol Spectr 2024:e0266223. [PMID: 38916350 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02662-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the presence of antimicrobial resistance determinants (ARDs) in the Neanderthal microbiome through meticulous analysis of metagenomic data derived directly from dental calculus and fecal sediments across diverse Neanderthal sites in Europe. Employing a targeted locus mapping approach followed by a consensus strategy instead of an assembly-first approach, we aimed to identify and characterize ARDs within these ancient microbial communities. A comprehensive and redundant ARD database was constructed by amalgamating data from various antibiotic resistance gene repositories. Our results highlighted the efficacy of the KMA tool in providing a robust alignment of ancient metagenomic reads to the antibiotic resistance gene database. Notably, the KMA tool identified a limited number of ARDs, with only the 23S ribosomal gene from the dental calculus sample of Neanderthal remains at Goyet Troisieme Caverne exhibiting ancient DNA (aDNA) characteristics. Despite not identifying ARDs with typical ancient DNA damage patterns or negative distance proportions, our findings suggest a nuanced identification of putative antimicrobial resistance determinants in the Neanderthal microbiome's genetic repertoire based on the taxonomy-habitat correlation. Nevertheless, our findings are limited by factors such as environmental DNA contamination, DNA fragmentation, and cytosine deamination of aDNA. The study underscores the necessity for refined methodologies to unlock the genomic assets of prehistoric populations, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the intricate dynamics shaping the microbial landscape across history. IMPORTANCE The results of our analysis demonstrate the challenges in identifying determinants of antibiotic resistance within the endogenous microbiome of Neanderthals. Despite the comprehensive investigation of multiple studies and the utilization of advanced analytical techniques, the detection of antibiotic resistance determinants in the ancient microbial communities proved to be particularly difficult. However, our analysis did reveal the presence of some authentic ancient conservative genes, indicating the preservation of certain genetic elements over time. These findings raise intriguing questions about the factors influencing the presence or absence of antibiotic resistance in ancient microbial communities. It could be speculated that the spread of current antibiotic resistance, which has reached alarming levels in modern times, is primarily driven by anthropogenic factors such as the widespread use and misuse of antibiotics in medical and agricultural practices.
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Hernaiz-García M, Zanolli C, Martín-Francés L, Mazurier A, Benazzi S, Sarig R, Fu J, Kullmer O, Fiorenza L. Masticatory habits of the adult Neanderthal individual BD 1 from La Chaise-de-Vouthon (France). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24926. [PMID: 38420653 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The analysis of dental wear provides a useful approach for dietary and cultural habit reconstructions of past human populations. The analysis of macrowear patterns can also be used to better understand the individual chewing behavior and to investigate the biomechanical responses during different biting scenarios. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diet and chewing performance of the adult Neanderthal Bourgeois-Delaunay 1 (BD 1) and to investigate the relationship between wear and cementum deposition under mechanical demands. MATERIALS AND METHODS The macrowear pattern of BD 1 was analyzed using the occlusal fingerprint analysis method. We propose a new method for the bilateral measurement of the cementum volume along both buccal and lingual sides of the molar root. RESULTS BD 1's anterior dentition is more affected by wear compared to the posterior one. The macrowear pattern suggest a normal chewing behavior and a mixed-diet coming from temperate environments. The teeth on the left side of the mandible display greater levels of wear, as well as the buccal side of the molar crowns. The cementum analysis shows higher buccal volume along the molar roots. DISCUSSION BD1 could have been preferably chewing on the left side of the mandible. The exploitation of various food resources suggested by the macrowear analysis is compatible with the environmental reconstructions. Finally, the greater wear on the buccal side of the molar occlusal surface and the greater volume of cementum in that side of the molar roots offers a preliminary understanding about the potential correlation between dental wear and cementum deposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Hernaiz-García
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - Laura Martín-Francés
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Paleobiology, CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
| | - Arnaud Mazurier
- CNRS, Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers-IC2MP, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Rachel Sarig
- Department of Oral Biology, The Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Jing Fu
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Ottmar Kullmer
- Division of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Palaeobiology and Environment, Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Luca Fiorenza
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
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Chen X, Varghese S, Zhang Z, Du J, Ruan B, Baell JB, Liu X. Drug discovery and optimization based on the co-crystal structure of natural product with target. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 266:116126. [PMID: 38232464 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Due to their structural diversities and prevalent biological activities, natural products (NPs) are momentous resources for drug discovery. Although NPs have a wide range of biological activities, many exhibit structural complexity that leads to synthetic difficulties, which combines with inefficient biological activity, toxicity, and unfavorable pharmacokinetic characteristics and ultimately imparts poor safety and efficacy outcomes. Progress in crystallization and computational techniques allow crystallography to have a seasonable influences on drug discovery. By co-crystallizing with proteins, therapeutic targets of NPs in specific diseases can be identified. By analyzing the co-crystal information, the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of NPs targeting specific proteins can be grasped. Under the guidance of co-crystal information, directional structural modification and simplification are powerful strategies for overcoming limitations of NPs, improving the success rate of NP-based drug discovery, and obtaining NP-based drugs with high selectivity, low toxicity and favorable pharmacokinetic characteristics. Here, we review the co-crystal information of a selection of NPs, focusing on the SARs of NPs reflected by co-crystal information and the modification and simplification strategies of NPs, and discuss how to apply co-crystal information in the optimization of NP-based lead compound.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Chen
- School of Pharmacy, Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, PR China; School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, PR China.
| | - Swapna Varghese
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, 3052, Australia.
| | - Zhaoyan Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, PR China.
| | - Juncheng Du
- School of Pharmacy, Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, PR China.
| | - Banfeng Ruan
- Key Lab of Biofabrication of Anhui Higher Education, Hefei University, Hefei, 230601, PR China.
| | - Jonathan B Baell
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, 3052, Australia.
| | - Xinhua Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, PR China.
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D'Agostino A, Di Marco G, Rolfo MF, Alessandri L, Marvelli S, Braglia R, Congestri R, Berrilli F, Fuciarelli MF, Ferracci A, Canini A, Gismondi A. Microparticles from dental calculus disclose paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological records. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11053. [PMID: 38405407 PMCID: PMC10891416 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. The present contribution represents a multi-proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in ancient dental calculus collected from pre-historical individuals buried at La Sassa and Pila archaeological sites (Central Italy). The collected record suggested the potential use of plant taxa by the people living in Central Italy during the Copper-Middle Bronze Age and expanded the body of evidence reported by previous palynological and palaeoecological studies. The application of a microscopic approach provided information about domesticated crops and/or gathered wild plants and inferred considerations on ancient environments, water sources, and past health and diseases. Moreover, the research supplied data to define the natural resources (e.g., C4-plant intake) and the social use of the space during that period. Another important aspect was the finding of plant clues referable to woody habitats, characterised by broad-leaved deciduous taxa and generally indicative of a warm-temperate climate and grassy vegetation. Other unusual records (e.g., diatoms, brachysclereids) participated in defining the prehistoric ecological framework. Thus, this work provides an overview on the potential of the human dental calculus analysis to delineate some features of the ancient plant ecology and biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia D'Agostino
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
- Present address: PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Gabriele Di Marco
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Mario Federico Rolfo
- Department of History, Culture and Society University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Luca Alessandri
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Silvia Marvelli
- Laboratory of Palynology and Archaeobotany-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli Bologna Italy
| | - Roberto Braglia
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Roberta Congestri
- Laboratory of Biology of the Algae, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Federica Berrilli
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | | | - Angelica Ferracci
- Department of History, Culture and Society University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Antonella Canini
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Angelo Gismondi
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
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Hadzhieva B, Petkova-Dimitrova V. Proportion of Over-The-Counter Medicines Containing a Plant Component and Those with Synthetic Substances Administered among Children in a Bulgarian Population. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2024; 17:192. [PMID: 38399407 PMCID: PMC10892009 DOI: 10.3390/ph17020192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Over-the-counter medicines are intended to influence a number of symptoms and also to cure some human diseases without having to see the doctor. These medicines are used for self-medication and parents also give them to their children. The following fall within the scope of over-the-counter medicines: analgesics, antipyretics, antihistamines, decongestants, gastroprotectors, anti-cough medicines, and others. Their composition also includes one or a combination of medicinal plants. In addition to synthetic substances, some nonprescription medicines contain plant substances and their derivatives. Medicinal plants and their extracted derivatives are applicable in the therapies of a number of diseases. Considering the fact that over-the-counter medicines can be used among children from birth, the subject of our study is those whose composition includes biologically active plant substances. Within this study, we have established the number of nonprescription medicines containing a plant substance individually or in combination with another substance of the same kind and/or other substances, which have been included in a list published on the website of the Bulgarian Drug Agency. The objective of our study is to present the percentage of OTC medicines containing a plant substance intended to affect the symptoms of upper respiratory tract diseases and pain, which are used among children during different periods of their development. Some of these medicines also contain substances such as antihistamines (pheniramine maleate) and decongestants (pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine hydrochloride, dimetidine) that can cause various unwanted side effects. Considering the aforementioned aspects and also the peculiarities of childhood, we recommend that self-treatment be conducted only after consulting a health specialist.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bozhidarka Hadzhieva
- Medical College, Medical University of Plovdiv, 15a Vasil Aprilov Blvd., 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | - Valentina Petkova-Dimitrova
- Department of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Sofia, 2 Dunav St., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria;
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Fiorin E, Roberts CA, Baldoni M, Connelly E, Lee C, Ottoni C, Cristiani E. First archaeological evidence for ginger consumption as a potential medicinal ingredient in a late medieval leprosarium at St Leonard, Peterborough, England. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2452. [PMID: 38291078 PMCID: PMC10827753 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52422-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Leprosy was one of the most outwardly visible diseases in the European Middle Ages, a period during which leprosaria were founded to provide space for the sick. The extant documentary evidence for leprosy hospitals, especially in relation to diet, therapeutic, and medical care, is limited. However, human dental calculus stands to be an important source of information as it provides insight into the substances people were exposed to and accumulated in their bodies during their lives. In the present study, microremains and DNA were analysed from the calculus of individuals buried in the late medieval cemetery of St Leonard, a leprosarium located in Peterborough, England. The results show the presence of ginger (Zingiber officinale), a culinary and medicinal ingredient, as well as evidence of consumption of cereals and legumes. This research suggests that affected individuals consumed ingredients mentioned in medieval medical textbooks that were used to treat regions of the body typically impacted by leprosy. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study which has identified Zingiber officinale in human dental calculus in England or on the wider European continent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Fiorin
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, DANTE-Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy.
| | - Charlotte A Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Marica Baldoni
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Erin Connelly
- School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Christina Lee
- School of English, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Claudio Ottoni
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Emanuela Cristiani
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, DANTE-Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
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Singh D, Mittal N, Verma S, Singh A, Siddiqui MH. Applications of some advanced sequencing, analytical, and computational approaches in medicinal plant research: a review. Mol Biol Rep 2023; 51:23. [PMID: 38117315 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-09057-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
The potential active chemicals found in medicinal plants, which have long been employed as natural medicines, are abundant. Exploring the genes responsible for producing these compounds has given new insights into medicinal plant research. Previously, the authentication of medicinal plants was done via DNA marker sequencing. With the advancement of sequencing technology, several new techniques like next-generation sequencing, single molecule sequencing, and fourth-generation sequencing have emerged. These techniques enshrined the role of molecular approaches for medicinal plants because all the genes involved in the biosynthesis of medicinal compound(s) could be identified through RNA-seq analysis. In several research insights, transcriptome data have also been used for the identification of biosynthesis pathways. miRNAs in several medicinal plants and their role in the biosynthesis pathway as well as regulation of the disease-causing genes were also identified. In several research articles, an in silico study was also found to be effective in identifying the inhibitory effect of medicinal plant-based compounds against virus' gene(s). The use of advanced analytical methods like spectroscopy and chromatography in metabolite proofing of secondary metabolites has also been reported in several recent research findings. Furthermore, advancement in molecular and analytic methods will give new insight into studying the traditionally important medicinal plants that are still unexplored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dhananjay Singh
- Department of Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226026, India
| | - Nishu Mittal
- Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, 225003, India
| | - Swati Verma
- College of Horticulture and Forestry Thunag, Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, 173230, India
| | - Anjali Singh
- Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, 225003, India
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Hill MS, Gilbert JA. Microbiology of the built environment: harnessing human-associated built environment research to inform the study and design of animal nests and enclosures. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2023; 87:e0012121. [PMID: 38047636 PMCID: PMC10732082 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00121-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYOver the past decade, hundreds of studies have characterized the microbial communities found in human-associated built environments (BEs). These have focused primarily on how the design and use of our built spaces have shaped human-microbe interactions and how the differential selection of certain taxa or genetic traits has influenced health outcomes. It is now known that the more removed humans are from the natural environment, the greater the risk for the development of autoimmune and allergic diseases, and that indoor spaces can be harsh, selective environments that can increase the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant and virulent phenotypes in surface-bound communities. However, despite the abundance of research that now points to the importance of BEs in determining human-microbe interactions, only a fraction of non-human animal structures have been comparatively explored. It is here, in the context of human-associated BE research, that we consider the microbial ecology of animal-built natural nests and burrows, as well as artificial enclosures, and point to areas of primary interest for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan S. Hill
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Jack A. Gilbert
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Buckley S, Hardy K, Hallgren F, Kubiak-Martens L, Miliauskienė Ž, Sheridan A, Sobkowiak-Tabaka I, Subirà ME. Human consumption of seaweed and freshwater aquatic plants in ancient Europe. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6192. [PMID: 37848451 PMCID: PMC10582258 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41671-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
During the Mesolithic in Europe, there is widespread evidence for an increase in exploitation of aquatic resources. In contrast, the subsequent Neolithic is characterised by the spread of farming, land ownership, and full sedentism, which lead to the perception of marine resources subsequently representing marginal or famine food or being abandoned altogether even at the furthermost coastal limits of Europe. Here, we examine biomarkers extracted from human dental calculus, using sequential thermal desorption- and pyrolysis-GCMS, to report direct evidence for widespread consumption of seaweed and submerged aquatic and freshwater plants across Europe. Notably, evidence of consumption of these resources extends through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages, suggesting that these resources, now rarely eaten in Europe, only became marginal much more recently. Understanding ancient foodstuffs is crucial to reconstructing the past, while a better knowledge of local, forgotten resources is likewise important today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Buckley
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, Kings Manor, Exhibition Square, York, YO1 7EP, UK.
| | - Karen Hardy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow, Molema Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, UK.
| | - Fredrik Hallgren
- The Cultural Heritage Foundation, Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård, Pilgatan 8D, 721 30, Västerås, Sweden
| | | | - Žydrūnė Miliauskienė
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Alison Sheridan
- Department of Scottish History and Archaeology, National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK
| | - Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka
- Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 7, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Maria Eulalia Subirà
- GREAB, Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica, Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia. Facultat de Biociències. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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McKay TB, Emmitte KA, German C, Karamichos D. Quercetin and Related Analogs as Therapeutics to Promote Tissue Repair. Bioengineering (Basel) 2023; 10:1127. [PMID: 37892857 PMCID: PMC10604618 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering10101127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Quercetin is a polyphenol of the flavonoid class of secondary metabolites that is widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Quercetin has been found to exhibit potent bioactivity in the areas of wound healing, neuroprotection, and anti-aging research. Naturally found in highly glycosylated forms, aglycone quercetin has low solubility in aqueous environments, which has heavily limited its clinical applications. To improve the stability and bioavailability of quercetin, efforts have been made to chemically modify quercetin and related flavonoids so as to improve aqueous solubility while retaining bioactivity. In this review, we provide an updated overview of the biological properties of quercetin and proposed mechanisms of actions in the context of wound healing and aging. We also provide a description of recent developments in synthetic approaches to improve the solubility and stability of quercetin and related analogs for therapeutic applications. Further research in these areas is expected to enable translational applications to improve ocular wound healing and tissue repair.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina B. McKay
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA;
| | - Kyle A. Emmitte
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNT System College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA;
| | - Carrie German
- CFD Research Corporation, Computational Biology Division, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA;
| | - Dimitrios Karamichos
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNT System College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA;
- North Texas Eye Research Institute, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA
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Goldfarb G, Sela Y. The Ideal Diet for Humans to Sustainably Feed the Growing Population - Review, Meta-Analyses, and Policies for Change. F1000Res 2023; 10:1135. [PMID: 37928317 PMCID: PMC10623543 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.73470.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION As of now, no study has combined research from different sciences to determine the most suitable diet for humans. This issue is urgent due to the predicted population growth, the effect of this on the environment, and the deterioration of human health and associated costs. METHODS A literature review determined whether an optimal diet for humans exists and what such a diet is, followed by six meta-analyses. The standard criteria for conducting meta-analyses of observational studies were followed. A review of literature reporting Hazard Ratios with a 95% confidence interval for red meat intake, dairy intake, plant-based diet, fiber intake, and serum IGF-1 levels were extracted to calculate effect sizes. RESULTS Results calculated using NCSS software show that high meat consumption increases mortality probability by 18% on average and increases diabetes risk by 50%. Plant-based and high-fiber diets decrease mortality by 15% and 20% respectively ( p < .001). Plant-based diets decreased diabetes risk by 27%, and dairy consumption (measured by increased IGF-1 levels) increased cancer probability by 48% ( p < 0.01). A vegetarian or Mediterranean diet was not found to decrease the probability of heart disease. A vegetarian diet can be healthy or not, depending on the foods consumed. A Mediterranean diet with high quantities of meat and dairy products will not produce the health effects desired. The main limitations of the study were that observational studies were heterogeneous and limited by potential confounders. DISCUSSION The literature and meta-analyses point to an optimal diet for humans that has followed our species from the beginnings of humankind. The optimal diet is a whole food, high fiber, low-fat, 90+% plant-based diet. This diet allowed humans to become the most developed species on Earth. To ensure people's nutritional needs are met healthily and sustainably, governmental dietary interventions are necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galit Goldfarb
- Nutrition, OUS University, The Royal Academy of Economics and Technology, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Yaron Sela
- Nutrition, OUS University, The Royal Academy of Economics and Technology, Zürich, Switzerland
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12
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Radini A, Nikita E. Beyond dirty teeth: Integrating dental calculus studies with osteoarchaeological parameters. QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL : THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR QUATERNARY RESEARCH 2023; 653-654:3-18. [PMID: 37089908 PMCID: PMC10109118 DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The study of ancient human dental calculus (mineralized dental plaque, also known as tartar) is becoming increasingly important in osteoarchaeology, human palaeoecology and environmental archaeology. Microremains of different origin (e.g. starch granules, pollen, phytoliths, feather barbules) as well as biomolecules and chemical compounds retrieved from its mineral matrix may represent an important link between past humans and their physical, biological and social environment, but they are rarely fully linked to the evidence from skeletal remains. This paper critically reviews the lines of evidence retrieved from dental calculus in relation to osteoarchaeological parameters, employing macroscopic, microscopic and biomolecular approaches, assessing synergy potential and limitations. The scope of this paper is also to contribute to the building of a much needed theoretical framework in this emerging subfield.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Radini
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK
- York JEOL Nanocentre, The University of York, Science Park, York, UK
- Corresponding author. BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK.
| | - Efthymia Nikita
- Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, 2121, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus
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13
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Delaney S, Alexander M, Radini A. More than what we eat: Investigating an alternative pathway for intact starch granules in dental calculus using Experimental Archaeology. QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL : THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR QUATERNARY RESEARCH 2023; 653-654:19-32. [PMID: 37089909 PMCID: PMC10109111 DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Starch granules and other plant tissues are commonly found as part of the microdebris assemblage analysed within dental calculus. These are often interpreted as evidence of past diets. However, many of the starch granules extracted from dental calculus are intact, and do not show evidence of alterations as a result of being processed for consumption. This research examines if plant material can accidently enter the mouth while being processed for a meal, with a focus on starch granules. Grinding experiments were performed on three types of cereal grains (wheat, oat and millet). We compare the presence of intact and altered starch granules in mouthwash samples (in place of dental calculus samples) from individuals involved in grinding and also from samples in the environment surrounding the grinding activity. This experiment is a proof of concept aimed to expand experimental research in the field of dental calculus analysis and to encourage the exploration of pathways beyond direct and deliberate consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Delaney
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK
- Corresponding author.
| | - Michelle Alexander
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK
| | - Anita Radini
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK
- York JEOL Nanocentre, The University of York, Science Park, York, UK
- Corresponding author. BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, The University of York, Wentworth Way, York, UK.
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14
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Hagen EH, Blackwell AD, Lightner AD, Sullivan RJ. Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating increased pathogen pressure and the use of pharmacological plants in Homo. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 180:589-617. [PMID: 36815505 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
The human lineage transitioned to a more carnivorous niche 2.6 mya and evolved a large body size and slower life history, which likely increased zoonotic pathogen pressure. Evidence for this increase includes increased zoonotic infections in modern hunter-gatherers and bushmeat hunters, exceptionally low stomach pH compared to other primates, and divergence in immune-related genes. These all point to change, and probably intensification, in the infectious disease environment of Homo compared to earlier hominins and other apes. At the same time, the brain, an organ in which immune responses are constrained, began to triple in size. We propose that the combination of increased zoonotic pathogen pressure and the challenges of defending a large brain and body from pathogens in a long-lived mammal, selected for intensification of the plant-based self-medication strategies already in place in apes and other primates. In support, there is evidence of medicinal plant use by hominins in the middle Paleolithic, and all cultures today have sophisticated, plant-based medical systems, add spices to food, and regularly consume psychoactive plant substances that are harmful to helminths and other pathogens. We propose that the computational challenges of discovering effective plant-based treatments, the consequent ability to consume more energy-rich animal foods, and the reduced reliance on energetically-costly immune responses helped select for increased cognitive abilities and unique exchange relationships in Homo. In the story of human evolution, which has long emphasized hunting skills, medical skills had an equal role to play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward H Hagen
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Aaron D Lightner
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
- Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Roger J Sullivan
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, California, USA
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15
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D'Agostino A, Di Marco G, Marvelli S, Marchesini M, Rizzoli E, Rolfo MF, Canini A, Gismondi A. Neolithic dental calculi provide evidence for environmental proxies and consumption of wild edible fruits and herbs in central Apennines. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1384. [PMID: 36536113 PMCID: PMC9763411 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04354-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Looking for a biological fingerprint relative to new aspects of the relationship between humans and natural environment during prehistoric times is challenging. Although many issues still need to be addressed in terms of authentication and identification, microparticles hidden in ancient dental calculus can provide interesting information for bridging this gap of knowledge. Here, we show evidence about the role of edible plants for the early Neolithic individuals in the central Apennines of the Italian peninsula and relative cultural landscape. Dental calculi from human and animal specimens exhumed at Grotta Mora Cavorso (Lazio), one of the largest prehistoric burial deposits, have returned an archaeobotanical record made up of several types of palaeoecological proxies. The organic fraction of this matrix was investigated by a multidisciplinary approach, whose novelty consisted in the application of next generation sequencing to ancient plant DNA fragments, specifically codifying for maturase K barcode gene. Panicoideae and Triticeae starches, together with genetic indicators of Rosaceae fruits, figs, and Lamiaceae herbs, suggested subsistence practices most likely still based on wild plant resources. On the other hand, pollen, and non-pollen palynomorphs allowed us to outline a general vegetational framework dominated by woodland patches alternated with meadows, where semi-permanent settlements could have been established.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia D'Agostino
- PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Di Marco
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Marvelli
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marco Marchesini
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Rizzoli
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mario Federico Rolfo
- Department of History, Culture and Society, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Canini
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Angelo Gismondi
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.
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16
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ter Schure AT, Bruch AA, Kandel AW, Gasparyan B, Bussmann RW, Brysting AK, de Boer HJ, Boessenkool S. Sedimentary ancient DNA metabarcoding as a tool for assessing prehistoric plant use at the Upper Paleolithic cave site Aghitu-3, Armenia. J Hum Evol 2022; 172:103258. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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A Neandertal dietary conundrum: Insights provided by tooth enamel Zn isotopes from Gabasa, Spain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2109315119. [PMID: 36252021 PMCID: PMC9618064 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2109315119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The characterization of Neandertals' diets has mostly relied on nitrogen isotope analyses of bone and tooth collagen. However, few nitrogen isotope data have been recovered from bones or teeth from Iberia due to poor collagen preservation at Paleolithic sites in the region. Zinc isotopes have been shown to be a reliable method for reconstructing trophic levels in the absence of organic matter preservation. Here, we present the results of zinc (Zn), strontium (Sr), carbon (C), and oxygen (O) isotope and trace element ratio analysis measured in dental enamel on a Pleistocene food web in Gabasa, Spain, to characterize the diet and ecology of a Middle Paleolithic Neandertal individual. Based on the extremely low δ66Zn value observed in the Neandertal's tooth enamel, our results support the interpretation of Neandertals as carnivores as already suggested by δ15N isotope values of specimens from other regions. Further work could help identify if such isotopic peculiarities (lowest δ66Zn and highest δ15N of the food web) are due to a metabolic and/or dietary specificity of the Neandertals.
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Zubova AV, Kulkov AM, Pikhur OL, Moiseyev VG, Kolobova KA, Markin SV. A Case of Chronic Maxillary Sinusitis in a Late Neanderthal Population of the Altai Mountains. ARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY OF EURASIA 2022. [DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2022.50.3.131-139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
We describe a likely case of chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) in a Neanderthal skeletal sample from Chagyrskaya Cave, in the Altai Mountains. Signs of CMS were recorded in the Chagyrskaya 57 specimen, which is a fragment of a left maxilla. Alveoli of the upper fi rst molar are partially preserved, and so are the second and third upper molars, with adjacent parts of the walls, and the fl oor of the maxillary sinus. The fragment was found in layer 6b, dating to 53,100–51,100 BP. We analyze the factors that had caused the development of the disease, and assess its etiology. In the 3D-model, generated by computed microtomography, and in the original specimen, porotic changes were registered, situated at the fracture line of the alveoli of M1, lost post-mortem, and near the vestibular roots of both preserved molars. Also, there were isolated bone spicules, 1.0–2.6 mm in size. These signs indicate incipient CMS, evidently caused by chronic periodontal disease combined with a deep alveolar recess of the maxillary sinus. As the periodontal gap expanded, several small nutrient foramina, piercing the bottom of the sinus, merged. As a result, several oro-antral channels formed, whereupon the infection spread into the maxillary sinus. Since the deep alveolar recess is observed in the vast majority of Neanderthal crania with published images or reconstructed maxillary cavities, it can be assumed that Neanderthals were predisposed to odontogenic CMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. V. Zubova
- Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
| | | | | | - V. G. Moiseyev
- Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences
| | - K. A. Kolobova
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
| | - S. V. Markin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
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19
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Garralda MD, Weiner S, Arensburg B, Maureille B, Vandermeersch B. Dental Paleobiology in a Juvenile Neanderthal (Combe-Grenal, Southwestern France). BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11091352. [PMID: 36138831 PMCID: PMC9495844 DOI: 10.3390/biology11091352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Numerous prehistoric sites in Europe and the Near East provided bones and dental remains of the populations of the past. One of them is the Combe-Grenal Cave (SW France), where fossils of children and adults represent the Neanderthals who lived there more than 60 ky ago, during a harsh period of the last glaciation. In this paper, we analyze a sample of the tartar of a juvenile individual. The numerous bacteria forming the plaque are compared to those of one adult from Israel, Kebara 2, revealing the differences between the most common bacteria in a young and an older individual, probably because of their immunological systems, and the different living conditions of the human groups they represented. Abstract Combe-Grenal site (Southwest France) was excavated by F. Bordes between 1953 and 1965. He found several human remains in Mousterian levels 60, 39, 35 and especially 25, corresponding to MIS 4 (~75–70/60 ky BP) and with Quina Mousterian lithics. One of the fossils found in level 25 is Combe-Grenal IV, consisting of a fragment of the left corpus of a juvenile mandible. This fragment displays initial juvenile periodontitis, and the two preserved teeth (LLP4 and LLM1) show moderate attrition and dental calculus. The SEM tartar analysis demonstrates the presence of cocci and filamentous types of bacteria, the former being more prevalent. This result is quite different from those obtained for the two adult Neanderthals Kebara 2 and Subalyuk 1, where more filamentous bacteria appear, especially in the Subalyuk 1 sample from Central Europe. These findings agree with the available biomedical data on periodontitis and tartar development in extant individuals, despite the different environmental conditions and diets documented by numerous archeological, taphonomical and geological data available on Neanderthals and present-day populations. New metagenomic analyses are extending this information, and despite the inherent difficulties, they will open important perspectives in studying this ancient human pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Dolores Garralda
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de CC. Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence:
| | - Steve Weiner
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Baruch Arensburg
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 39040, Israel
| | - Bruno Maureille
- University Bordeaux, CNRS, MC, PACEA UMR5199, F-33600 Pessac, France
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Manville RW, Redford KE, van der Horst J, Hogenkamp DJ, Jepps TA, Abbott GW. KCNQ5 activation by tannins mediates vasorelaxant effects of barks used in Native American botanical medicine. FASEB J 2022; 36:e22457. [PMID: 35997997 PMCID: PMC9404676 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202200724r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Tree and shrub barks have been used as folk medicine by numerous cultures across the globe for millennia, for a variety of indications, including as vasorelaxants and antispasmodics. Here, using electrophysiology and myography, we discovered that the KCNQ5 voltage-gated potassium channel mediates vascular smooth muscle relaxant effects of barks used in Native American folk medicine. Bark extracts (1%) from Birch, Cramp Bark, Slippery Elm, White Oak, Red Willow, White Willow, and Wild Cherry each strongly activated KCNQ5 expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Testing of a subset including both the most and the least efficacious extracts revealed that Red Willow, White Willow, and White Oak KCNQ-dependently relaxed rat mesenteric arteries; in contrast, Black Haw bark neither activated KCNQ5 nor induced vasorelaxation. Two compounds common to the active barks (gallic acid and tannic acid) had similarly potent and efficacious effects on both KCNQ5 activation and vascular relaxation, and this together with KCNQ5 modulation by other tannins provides a molecular basis for smooth muscle relaxation effects of Native American folk medicine bark extracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rian W. Manville
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Kaitlyn E. Redford
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer van der Horst
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Vascular Biology Group, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Derk J. Hogenkamp
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Thomas A. Jepps
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Vascular Biology Group, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Geoffrey W. Abbott
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
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Wu Y, Tao D, Wu X, Liu W, Cai Y. Diet of the earliest modern humans in East Asia. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:989308. [PMID: 36119583 PMCID: PMC9471156 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.989308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Reconstructing diet can offer an improved understanding toward the origin and evolution of modern humans. However, the diet of early modern humans in East Asia is poorly understood. Starch analysis of dental calculus is harmless to precious fossil hominins and provides the most direct evidence of plant food sources in early modern human dietary records. In this paper, we examined the starch grains in dental calculus from Fuyan Cave hominins in Daoxian (South China), which were the earliest modern humans in East Asia. Our results reveal the earliest direct evidence of a hominin diet made of acorns, roots, tubers, grass seeds, and other yet-unidentified plants in marine isotope stage 5 between 120 and 80 ka. Our study also provides the earliest evidence that acorns may have played an important role in subsistence strategies. There may have been a long-lasting tradition of using these plants during the Late Pleistocene in China. Plant foods would have been a plentiful source of carbohydrates that greatly increased energy availability to human tissues with high glucose demands. Our study provides the earliest direct consumption of carbohydrates-rich plant resources from modern humans in China for the first time. In addition, it also helps elucidate the evolutionary advantages of early modern humans in the late Middle and early Upper Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Wu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Dawei Tao
- Department of Archaeology, School of History, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Xiujie Wu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Wu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Yanjun Cai
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
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22
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New evidence of Neandertal butchery traditions through the marrow extraction in southwestern Europe (MIS 5–3). PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271816. [PMID: 35976853 PMCID: PMC9385001 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Long bone breakage for bone marrow recovery is a commonly observed practice in Middle Palaeolithic contexts, regardless of the climatic conditions. While lithic technology is largely used to define cultural patterns in human groups, despite dedicating research by zooarchaeologists, for now butchering techniques rarely allowed the identification of clear traditions, notably for ancient Palaeolithic periods. In this paper, we test the hypothesis of butchery traditions among Neandertal groupsusing the bone assemblages from three sites in southwestern Europe. These sites are located in southeastern France and northern Italy and are dated to the Late Middle Palaeolithic: Abri du Maras (Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 4–3, Ardèche), Saint-Marcel (MIS 3, Ardèche), and Riparo Tagliente (MIS 4–3, Verona). The detection of culturally-induced patterns of bone breakage involves differentiating them from intuitively generated patterns. To tackle this issue, we used a zooarchaeological approach focusing on the percussion marks produced during the bone breakage process. Statistical analyses as the chi-square test of independence were employed to verify if percussion mark locations were randomly distributed, and if these distributions were different from the intuitive ones. For femurs and humeri, our results demonstrate that Neandertal groups occupying the Abri du Maras (levels 4.1 and 4.2) and the Saint-Marcel Cave (levels g and h) sites in France applied butchery traditions to recover yellow marrow. However, the traditions developed at each site were different. On the contrary, in Riparo Tagliente, in Italy, several groups or individuals of a same group did not share the same butchery traditions over time. Regarding the Abri du Maras and Saint Marcel Cave assemblages, our research demonstrates that Neandertal groups applied intense standardized bone breakage, far from the intuitive practice observed experimentally and related to bone density and/or skeletal morphology. These standardized patterns, which are systematic and counter-intuitive, can be interpreted as culturally induced for the Abri du Maras and Saint Marcel Cave. The diversity of Neandertal traditions should be considered by taking into account the butchery, in particular the practice of bone marrow extraction, and not only technological behaviours and types of tool kits.
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Rivera-Chávez J, Ceapă CD, Figueroa M. Biological Dark Matter Exploration using Data Mining for the Discovery of Antimicrobial Natural Products. PLANTA MEDICA 2022; 88:702-720. [PMID: 35697058 DOI: 10.1055/a-1795-0562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The discovery of novel antimicrobials has significantly slowed down over the last three decades. At the same time, humans rely increasingly on antimicrobials because of the progressive antimicrobial resistance in medical practices, human communities, and the environment. Data mining is currently considered a promising option in the discovery of new antibiotics. Some of the advantages of data mining are the ability to predict chemical structures from sequence data, anticipation of the presence of novel metabolites, the understanding of gene evolution, and the corroboration of data from multiple omics technologies. This review analyzes the state-of-the-art for data mining in the fields of bacteria, fungi, and plant genomic data, as well as metabologenomics. It also summarizes some of the most recent research accomplishments in the field, all pinpointing to innovation through uncovering and implementing the next generation of antimicrobials.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Rivera-Chávez
- Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Corina-Diana Ceapă
- Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Mario Figueroa
- Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
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Daujeard C, Prat S. What Are the “Costs and Benefits” of Meat-Eating in Human Evolution? The Challenging Contribution of Behavioral Ecology to Archeology. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.834638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the omnivorous diet of most human populations, meat foraging gradually increased during the Paleolithic, in parallel with the development of hunting capacities. There is evidence of regular meat consumption by extinct hominins from 2 Ma onward, with the first occurrence prior to 3 Ma in Eastern Africa. The number of sites with cut-marked animal remains and stone tools increased after 2 Ma. In addition, toolkits became increasingly complex, and various, facilitating carcass defleshing and marrow recovery, the removal of quarters of meat to avoid carnivore competition, and allowing the emergence of cooperative (i.e., social) hunting of large herbivores. How can we assess the energy costs and benefits of meat and fat acquisition and consumption for hunter-gatherers in the past, and is it possible to accurately evaluate them? Answering this question would provide a better understanding of extinct hominin land use, food resource management, foraging strategies, and cognitive abilities related to meat and fat acquisition, processing, and consumption. According to the Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT), resources may be chosen primarily on the basis of their efficiency rank in term of calories. But, could other factors, and not only calorific return, prevail in the choice of prey, such as the acquisition of non-food products, like pelts, bone tools or ornaments, or symbolic or traditional uses? Our main goal here is to question the direct application of behavioral ecology data to archeology. For this purpose, we focus on the issue of animal meat and fat consumption in human evolution. We propose a short review of available data from energetics and ethnographic records, and provide examples of several various-sized extant animals, such as elephants, reindeer, or lagomorphs, which were some of the most common preys of Paleolithic hominins.
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Shillito LM, Namdeo A, Bapat AV, Mackay H, Haddow SD. Analysis of fine particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at Çatalhöyük World Heritage Site, Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2022; 44:1033-1048. [PMID: 34155558 PMCID: PMC8863713 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-021-01000-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The use of wood, dung and other biomass fuels can be traced back to early prehistory. While the study of prehistoric fuel use and its environmental impacts is well established, there has been little investigation of the health impacts this would have had, particularly in the Neolithic period, when people went from living in relatively small groups, to living in dense settlements. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey, is one of the earliest large 'pre-urban' settlements in the world. In 2017, a series of experiments were conducted to measure fine particulate (PM2.5) concentrations during typical fuel burning activities, using wood and dung fuel. The results indicate that emissions from both fuels surpassed the WHO and EU standard limits for indoor air quality, with dung fuel being the highest contributor for PM2.5 pollution inside the house, producing maximum values > 150,000 µg m-3. Maximum levels from wood burning were 36,000 µg m-3. Average values over a 2-3 h period were 13-60,000 µg m-3 for dung and 10-45,000 µg m-3 for wood. The structure of the house, lack of ventilation and design of the oven and hearth influenced the air quality inside the house. These observations have implications for understanding the relationship between health and the built environment in the past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa-Marie Shillito
- School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
| | - Anil Namdeo
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | | | - Helen Mackay
- Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Scott D Haddow
- Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Huffman MA. Folklore, Animal Self-Medication, and Phytotherapy-Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Some Things True. PLANTA MEDICA 2022; 88:187-199. [PMID: 34624907 DOI: 10.1055/a-1586-1665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The use of medicines was long considered by Western schools of thought to be a a domain unique to humans; however, folklore/Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from around the world suggests that animals have also long provided inspiration for the discovery of some medicinal plants used to treat humans and their livestock. Searching for medicinal knowledge from animals depends on the recognition of their ability to select and effectively use medicinal plants to prevent or actively ameliorate disease and other homeostatic imbalances. The interdisciplinary field of animal self-medication is providing scientific evidence for this ability in species across the animal kingdom and lends support to animal-origin medicinal plant folklore and recent ethnomedicinal information. Here, 14 case studies of purported animal-inspired plant medicines used by cultures around the world are presented together with ethnomedicinal and pharmacological evidence. Based on this evidence, the diversity and potential mode of self-medicative behaviors are considered. Over 20 animal species, including llama, sloth and jaguar in South America, reindeer and yak in Eurasia, langur and macaque in Asia, and chimpanzee, wild boar, porcupine and elephant in Africa, are linked to these case studies, representing a variety of potential preventative or therapeutic self-medicative behaviors. These examples provide an important perspective on what is likely to have been a much wider practice in the development of human traditional medicine. A role for animal self-medication research in the rejuvenation of old therapies and possible new discoveries of phytotherapies for human and livestock health is encouraged.
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Lauer G. Language, Childhood, and Fire: How We Learned to Love Sharing Stories. Front Psychol 2022; 12:787203. [PMID: 35153908 PMCID: PMC8828489 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.787203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Stories do not fossilize. Thus, exploring tales shared during prehistory, the longest part of human history inevitably becomes speculative. Nevertheless, various attempts have been made to find a more scientifically valid way into our deep human past of storytelling. Following the social brain hypothesis, we suggest including into the theory of human storytelling more fine-grained and evidence-based findings (from archaeology, the cognitive sciences, and evolutionary psychology) about the manifold exaptation and adaptation, genetic changes, and phenotypic plasticity in the deep human past, which all shaped the emergence of storytelling in hominins. We identify three preconditions for humans sharing stories: first, the long evolution of language in the different taxa as one of the preconditions of ostensive signaling; second, the pivotal role of childhood in the evolution of collaborative intentionality; and third, the role of fireside chats in the rise of elaborative (i.e., narrative) sharing of stories. We propose that humans, albeit perhaps no other hominins learned to understand others through sharing stories, not only as intentional agents, but also as mental ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerhard Lauer
- Gutenberg Institute of World Literature and Written Media, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Abstract
Since prehistory, human species have depended on plants for both food and medicine. Even in countries with ready access to modern medicines, alternative treatments are still highly regarded and commonly used. Unlike modern pharmaceuticals, many botanical medicines are in widespread use despite a lack of safety and efficacy data derived from controlled clinical trials and often unclear mechanisms of action. Contributing to this are the complex and undefined composition and likely multifactorial mechanisms of action and multiple targets of many botanical medicines. Here, we review the newfound importance of the ubiquitous KCNQ subfamily of voltage-gated potassium channels as targets for botanical medicines, including basil, capers, cilantro, lavender, fennel, chamomile, ginger, and Camellia, Sophora, and Mallotus species. We discuss the implications for the traditional use of these plants for disorders such as seizures, hypertension, and diabetes and the molecular mechanisms of plant secondary metabolite effects on KCNQ channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlyn E Redford
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA;
| | - Geoffrey W Abbott
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA;
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Dental calculus - oral health, forensic studies and archaeology: a review. Br Dent J 2022; 233:961-967. [PMID: 36494546 PMCID: PMC9734501 DOI: 10.1038/s41415-022-5266-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Dental calculus is recognised as a secondary aetiological factor in periodontal disease, and being a prominent plaque retentive factor, it is routinely removed by the dental team to maintain oral health. Conversely, dental calculus can potentially be useful in forensic studies by supplying data that may be helpful in the identification of human remains and assist in determining the cause of death. During the last few decades, dental calculus has been increasingly recognised as an informative tool to understand ancient diet and health. As an archaeological deposit, it may contain non-dietary debris which permits the exploration of human behaviour and activities. While optical and scanning electron microscopy were the original analytical methods utilised to study microparticles entrapped within the calcified matrix, more recently, molecular approaches, including ancient DNA (aDNA) and protein analyses, have been applied. Oral bacteria, a major component of calculus, is the primary target of these aDNA studies. Such analyses can detect changes in the oral microbiota, including those that have reflected the shift from agriculture to industrialisation, as well as identifying markers for various systemic diseases.
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Buckley S, Power RC, Andreadaki-Vlazaki M, Akar M, Becher J, Belser M, Cafisso S, Eisenmann S, Fletcher J, Francken M, Hallager B, Harvati K, Ingman T, Kataki E, Maran J, Martin MAS, McGeorge PJP, Milevski I, Papadimitriou A, Protopapadaki E, Salazar-García DC, Schmidt-Schultz T, Schuenemann VJ, Shafiq R, Stuijts I, Yegorov D, Yener KA, Schultz M, Spiteri C, Stockhammer PW. Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean. Sci Rep 2021; 11:24185. [PMID: 34921192 PMCID: PMC8683508 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03544-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of lignite (brown coal) in Europe and sheds new light on the use of combustion fuel sources in the 2nd millennium BCE Eastern Mediterranean. We applied Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Polarizing Microscopy to the dental calculus of 67 individuals and we identified clear evidence for combustion markers embedded within this calculus. In contrast to the scant evidence for combustion markers within the calculus samples from Egypt, all other individuals show the inhalation of smoke from fires burning wood identified as Pinaceae, in addition to hardwood, such as oak and olive, and/or dung. Importantly, individuals from the Palatial Period at the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns and the Cretan harbour site of Chania also show the inhalation of fire-smoke from lignite, consistent with the chemical signature of sources in the northwestern Peloponnese and Western Crete respectively. This first evidence for lignite exploitation was likely connected to and at the same time enabled Late Bronze Age Aegean metal and pottery production, significantly by both male and female individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Buckley
- Institute for Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
- Department of Archaeology, BioArCh, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Robert C Power
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Schellingstraße 12, 80799, Munich, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Murat Akar
- Archaeology Department, Mustafa Kemal University, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey
| | - Julia Becher
- Institute for Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, BioArCh, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Matthias Belser
- Institute for Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sara Cafisso
- Institute for Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stefanie Eisenmann
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Joann Fletcher
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO1 7EP, UK
| | - Michael Francken
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Katerina Harvati
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tara Ingman
- Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), Istanbul, 34421, Turkey
| | - Efthymia Kataki
- Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania, Stoa Vardinogianni, 73100, Chania, Greece
| | - Joseph Maran
- Institute for Prehistory, Protohistory and Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Heidelberg, Sandgasse 7, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mario A S Martin
- Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, 3498838, Haifa, Israel
| | | | | | | | | | - Domingo C Salazar-García
- IKERBASQUE-Basque Foundation for Science, Grupo de Investigación en Prehistoria IT-1223-19 (UPV-EHU), 01006, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
- Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia I Història Antiga, University of València, 46010, València, Spain
| | - Tyede Schmidt-Schultz
- Institute of Anatomy and Embryology, University Medical School Göttingen, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Verena J Schuenemann
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Rula Shafiq
- Anthropology Department, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ingelise Stuijts
- The Discovery Programme, 6 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | | | - K Aslιhan Yener
- Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), New York University, New York, USA
| | - Michael Schultz
- Institute of Anatomy and Embryology, University Medical School Göttingen, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Hildesheim, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany
| | - Cynthianne Spiteri
- Institute for Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Philipp W Stockhammer
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Schellingstraße 12, 80799, Munich, Germany.
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
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Reconstructing Neanderthal diet: The case for carbohydrates. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103105. [PMID: 34923240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence for plants rarely survives on Paleolithic sites, while animal bones and biomolecular analyses suggest animal produce was important to hominin populations, leading to the perspective that Neanderthals had a very-high-protein diet. But although individual and short-term survival is possible on a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, populations are unlikely to have thrived and reproduced without plants and the carbohydrates they provide. Today, nutritional guidelines recommend that around half the diet should be carbohydrate, while low intake is considered to compromise physical performance and successful reproduction. This is likely to have been the same for Paleolithic populations, highlighting an anomaly in that the basic physiological recommendations do not match the extensive archaeological evidence. Neanderthals had large, energy-expensive brains and led physically active lifestyles, suggesting that for optimal health they would have required high amounts of carbohydrates. To address this anomaly, we begin by outlining the essential role of carbohydrates in the human reproduction cycle and the brain and the effects on physical performance. We then evaluate the evidence for resource availability and the archaeological evidence for Neanderthal diet and investigate three ways that the anomaly between the archaeological evidence and the hypothetical dietary requirements might be explained. First, Neanderthals may have had an as yet unidentified genetic adaptation to an alternative physiological method to spare blood glucose and glycogen reserves for essential purposes. Second, they may have existed on a less-than-optimum diet and survived rather than thrived. Third, the methods used in dietary reconstruction could mask a complex combination of dietary plant and animal proportions. We end by proposing that analyses of Paleolithic diet and subsistence strategies need to be grounded in the minimum recommendations throughout the life course and that this provides a context for interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the behavioral and environmental perspectives.
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Abbott GW, Redford KE, Yoshimura RF, Manville RW, Moreira L, Tran K, Arena G, Kookootsedes A, Lasky E, Gunnison E. KCNQ and KCNE Isoform-Dependent Pharmacology Rationalizes Native American Dual Use of Specific Plants as Both Analgesics and Gastrointestinal Therapeutics. Front Physiol 2021; 12:777057. [PMID: 34858215 PMCID: PMC8632246 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.777057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Indigenous peoples of the Americas are proficient in botanical medicine. KCNQ family voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels are sensitive to a variety of ligands, including plant metabolites. Here, we screened methanolic extracts prepared from 40 Californian coastal redwood forest plants for effects on Kv current and membrane potential in Xenopus oocytes heterologously expressing KCNQ2/3, which regulates excitability of neurons, including those that sense pain. Extracts from 9 of the 40 plant species increased KCNQ2/3 current at –60 mV by ≥threefold (maximally, 15-fold by Urtica dioica) and/or hyperpolarized membrane potential by ≥-3 mV (maximally, –11 mV by Arctostaphylos glandulosa). All nine plants have traditionally been used as both analgesics and gastrointestinal therapeutics. Of two extracts tested, both acted as KCNQ-dependent analgesics in mice. KCNQ2/3 activation at physiologically relevant, subthreshold membrane potentials by tannic acid, gallic acid and quercetin provided molecular correlates for analgesic action of several of the plants. While tannic acid also activated KCNQ1 and KCNQ1-KCNE1 at hyperpolarized, negative membrane potentials, it inhibited KCNQ1-KCNE3 at both negative and positive membrane potentials, mechanistically rationalizing historical use of tannic acid-containing plants as gastrointestinal therapeutics. KCNE dependence of KCNQ channel modulation by plant metabolites therefore provides a molecular mechanistic basis for Native American use of specific plants as both analgesics and gastrointestinal aids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey W Abbott
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Kaitlyn E Redford
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Ryan F Yoshimura
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Rían W Manville
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Luiz Moreira
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Kevin Tran
- Bioelectricity Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Grey Arena
- Redwood Creek Vegetation Team, National Park Service, Sausalito, CA, United States
| | | | - Emma Lasky
- Redwood Creek Vegetation Team, National Park Service, Sausalito, CA, United States
| | - Elliot Gunnison
- Redwood Creek Vegetation Team, National Park Service, Sausalito, CA, United States
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Kattner AA. After me, the deluge: The intricacies of pulmonary surfactant. Biomed J 2021; 44:645-650. [PMID: 34942391 PMCID: PMC8847826 DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2021.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This issue of the Biomedical Journal provides a comprehensive insight into the role of pulmonary surfactant and influencing its components as well as involved molecules to treat a variety of respiratory distress disorders. We also discover how epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) could be targeted as part of a therapeutic strategy against lung cancer. Furthermore, a method is described to eliminate chemoresistance against gemcitabine, a drug administered to treat pancreatic cancer. We gain an insight into the composition of salivary calcium particles in periodontitis, a technique to circumvent complications in hip surgery, and a potential treatment to accelerate diabetic wound healing. Moreover, we get to know an essential oil that exerts a similar effect as diazepam on the central nervous system. A trial in patients with myofascial pain syndrome demonstrates how laser assisted trigger point therapy leads to immediate relief. Finally, a case study outlines the discovery of a genetic mutation that plays a role in intellectual disability.
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Komarnytsky S, Retchin S, Vong CI, Lila MA. Gains and Losses of Agricultural Food Production: Implications for the Twenty-First Century. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol 2021; 13:239-261. [PMID: 34813357 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-food-082421-114831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The world food supply depends on a diminishing list of plant crops and animal livestock to not only feed the ever-growing human population but also improve its nutritional state and lower the disease burden. Over the past century or so, technological advances in agricultural and food processing have helped reduce hunger and poverty but have not adequately addressed sustainability targets. This has led to an erosion of agricultural biodiversity and balanced diets and contributed to climate change and rising rates of chronic metabolic diseases. Modern food supply chains have progressively lost dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates, micronutrients, and several classes of phytochemicals with high bioactivity and nutritional relevance. This review introduces the concept of agricultural food systems losses and focuses on improved sources of agricultural diversity, proteins with enhanced resilience, and novel monitoring, processing, and distribution technologies that are poised to improve food security, reduce food loss and waste, and improve health profiles in the near future. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, Volume 13 is March 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Slavko Komarnytsky
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina; .,Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
| | - Sophia Retchin
- Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Chi In Vong
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina; .,Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
| | - Mary Ann Lila
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina; .,Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
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35
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Kuchta K, Cameron S. Tradition to Pathogenesis: A Novel Hypothesis for Elucidating the Pathogenesis of Diseases Based on the Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:705077. [PMID: 34759818 PMCID: PMC8572966 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.705077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditional medicines embody knowledge on medicinal plants that has been accumulated through cultural evolution over millennia. In the latter half of the 20th century, two approaches to medicinal plant research have been established: the "Bench to Bedside" and the "Bedside to Bench" approaches which serve primarily for the development of more efficient therapeutics. Here, we propose a third, novel approach: from "Tradition to Pathogenesis" which aims to understand the pathogenesis of diseases based on the cultural evolution of their respective empirical treatments. We analyse multiple examples of diseases where the acting mechanism of traditional treatments across multiple cultures points to the pathogenesis of the respective disease. E.g., many cultures traditionally treat rheumatism with anti-bacterial botanical drugs, which is at odds with our current understanding that rheumatism is an aseptic inflammation. Furthermore, gastric ailments have traditionally been treated with anti-infectious botanical drugs indicating local infections, as demonstrated by the discovery of Helicobacter pylori as a common cause of gastric ulcer. Understanding traditional treatments can thus help to elucidate the pathogenesis of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenny Kuchta
- Forschungsstelle für Fernöstliche Medizin, Department of Vegetation Analysis and Phytodiversity, Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Silke Cameron
- Clinic for Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Oncology, University Medicine Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Clinic, Hann. Münden, Germany
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Moura JMB, Henriques da Silva R, Soares Ferreira Júnior W, Cristina da Silva T, Albuquerque UP. Memory for medicinal plants remains in ancient and modern environments suggesting an evolved adaptedness. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0258986. [PMID: 34695160 PMCID: PMC8544875 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive memory is the propensity of human memory to easily store and retrieve important information to deal with challenges related to the Pleistocene. Recent evidence shows that humans have had a multiregional evolution across the African continent, including the rainforests and deciduous forests; however, there is little evidence regarding the implications of these origins and the relevant and recurring challenges of these environments on survival processing advantage in memory. In this study, we conducted an experiment with volunteers to analyze whether adaptive memory operates in the retrieval of important information to solve challenges of using medicinal plants to treat diseases in the ancestral environments of the savanna, rainforests, and deciduous forests compared to the modern environments of desert, tundra, coniferous forest, and urban areas. We used simulated survival environments and asked volunteers (30 per simulated scenario) to imagine themselves sick in one of these environments, and needing to find medicinal plants to treat their disease. The volunteers rated the relevance of 32 words to solve this challenge, followed by a surprise memory test. Our results showed no ancestral priority in recalling relevant information, as both ancestral and modern environments showed a similar recall of relevant information. This suggests that the evolved cognitive apparatus allows human beings to survive and can create survival strategies to face challenges imposed in various environments. We believe that this is only possible if the human mind operates through a flexible cognitive mechanism. This flexibility can reflect, for example, the different environments that the first hominids inhabited and the different dangerous situations that they faced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joelson Moreno Brito Moura
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Risoneide Henriques da Silva
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
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37
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Reply to Ben-Dor et al.: Oral bacteria of Neanderthals and modern humans exhibit evidence of starch adaptation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2112526118. [PMID: 34475260 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112526118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
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38
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Salazar-García DC, Power RC, Rudaya N, Kolobova K, Markin S, Krivoshapkin A, Henry AG, Richards MP, Viola B. Dietary evidence from Central Asian Neanderthals: A combined isotope and plant microremains approach at Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai, Russia). J Hum Evol 2021; 156:102985. [PMID: 34051612 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Neanderthals are known primarily from their habitation of Western Eurasia, but they also populated large expanses of Northern Asia for thousands of years. Owing to a sparse archaeological record, relatively little is known about these eastern Neanderthal populations. Unlike in their western range, there are limited zooarchaeological and paleobotanical studies that inform us about the nature of their subsistence. Here, we perform a combined analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes on bone collagen and microbotanical remains in dental calculus to reconstruct the diet of eastern Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia, Russia. Stable isotopes identify one individual as possessing a high trophic level due to the hunting of large- and medium-sized ungulates, while the analysis of dental calculus also indicates the presence of plants in the diet of this individual and others from the site. These findings indicate eastern Neanderthals may have had broadly similar subsistence patterns to those elsewhere in their range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Domingo C Salazar-García
- Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia I Història Antiga, Universitat de València, València, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Prehistoria IT-1223-19 (UPV-EHU)/IKERBASQUE-Basque Foundation for Science, Vitoria, Spain; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Robert C Power
- Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Schellingstraße, 1280799, München, Germany.
| | - Natalia Rudaya
- Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
| | - Ksenya Kolobova
- Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
| | - Sergey Markin
- Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
| | - Andrey Krivoshapkin
- Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
| | - Amanda G Henry
- Department of Archaeological Sciences, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Bence Viola
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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Environmental implications and evidence of natural products from dental calculi of a Neolithic-Chalcolithic community (central Italy). Sci Rep 2021; 11:10665. [PMID: 34021220 PMCID: PMC8140145 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89999-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In this contribution, we investigated the role of plants in the prehistoric community of Casale del Dolce (Anagni, FR, central Italy), through microparticles recovered from dental calculus. The finding of a great amount of pollen types, even in form of compact lumps, could indicate use of natural substances, such as honeybee products and/or conifer resins. This plant-microremain record also suggested environmental implications relative to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic period. Additionally, the stability of the tartar microenvironment had preserved starches and other microparticles, such as one epidermal trichome, a sporangium, and fragments of plant tissue, rarely detected in ancient dental calculus. The detection of secondary metabolites in the ancient matrix confirmed the familiarity of this community with plant resources. All these data supply various interesting food for thought and expand the knowledge about the potential of dental calculus in archaeological and archaeobotanical fields with a special focus on palaeoecology.
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Rogóż J, Podbielska M, Szpyrka E, Wnuk M. Characteristics of Dietary Fatty Acids Isolated from Historic Dental Calculus of the 17th- and 18th-Century Inhabitants of the Subcarpathian Region (Poland). Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26102951. [PMID: 34063539 PMCID: PMC8155891 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26102951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Dental calculus analysis can be a valuable source of archaeological knowledge, since it preserves not only microbial and host biomolecules but also dietary and environmental debris, as well as metabolic products likely originating from dietary and craft activities. Here we described GC-MS analysis of a set of historic dental calculus samples from the front teeth of the mandibles of seven individuals found in 17th- and 18th-century graves in the city of Rzeszow, located in South-eastern Poland. We have found that only saturated fatty acids, which are characteristic for fats of animal origin, were present in the tested samples. Our preliminary results indicate that the diet of modern-period inhabitants of Rzeszow was rich in animal products, such as meat and dairy products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Rogóż
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Rzeszow, Aleja Rejtana 16c, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland;
| | - Magdalena Podbielska
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszow, Aleja Rejtana 16c, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland; (M.P.); (E.S.)
| | - Ewa Szpyrka
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszow, Aleja Rejtana 16c, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland; (M.P.); (E.S.)
| | - Maciej Wnuk
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszow, Aleja Rejtana 16c, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland; (M.P.); (E.S.)
- Correspondence:
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41
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Ocobock C, Lacy S, Niclou A. Between a rock and a cold place: Neanderthal biocultural cold adaptations. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:262-279. [PMID: 33797824 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A large body of work focuses on the unique aspects of Neanderthal anatomy, inferred physiology, and behavior to test the assumption that Neanderthals were hyper-adapted to living in cold environments. This research has expanded over the years to include previously unexplored and potentially adaptive features such as brown adipose tissue and fire-usage. Here we review the current state of knowledge of Neanderthal cold adaptations along morphological, physiological, and behavioral lines. While highlighting foundational as well as recent work, we also emphasize key areas for future research. Despite thriving in a variety of climates, it is well-accepted that Neanderthals appear to be the most cold-adapted of known fossil hominin groups; however, there are still many unknowns. There is a great deal yet to be uncovered about the nature and manifestation of Neanderthal adaptation and how the synergy of biology and culture helped buffer them against extreme and variable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara Ocobock
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA.,Eck Institute for Global Health, Institute for Educational Initiatives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA
| | - Sarah Lacy
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California, USA
| | - Alexandra Niclou
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA
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Ben-Dor M, Sirtoli R, Barkai R. The evolution of the human trophic level during the Pleistocene. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175 Suppl 72:27-56. [PMID: 33675083 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The human trophic level (HTL) during the Pleistocene and its degree of variability serve, explicitly or tacitly, as the basis of many explanations for human evolution, behavior, and culture. Previous attempts to reconstruct the HTL have relied heavily on an analogy with recent hunter-gatherer groups' diets. In addition to technological differences, recent findings of substantial ecological differences between the Pleistocene and the Anthropocene cast doubt regarding that analogy's validity. Surprisingly little systematic evolution-guided evidence served to reconstruct HTL. Here, we reconstruct the HTL during the Pleistocene by reviewing evidence for the impact of the HTL on the biological, ecological, and behavioral systems derived from various existing studies. We adapt a paleobiological and paleoecological approach, including evidence from human physiology and genetics, archaeology, paleontology, and zoology, and identified 25 sources of evidence in total. The evidence shows that the trophic level of the Homo lineage that most probably led to modern humans evolved from a low base to a high, carnivorous position during the Pleistocene, beginning with Homo habilis and peaking in Homo erectus. A reversal of that trend appears in the Upper Paleolithic, strengthening in the Mesolithic/Epipaleolithic and Neolithic, and culminating with the advent of agriculture. We conclude that it is possible to reach a credible reconstruction of the HTL without relying on a simple analogy with recent hunter-gatherers' diets. The memory of an adaptation to a trophic level that is embedded in modern humans' biology in the form of genetics, metabolism, and morphology is a fruitful line of investigation of past HTLs, whose potential we have only started to explore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miki Ben-Dor
- Department of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Ran Barkai
- Department of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Prey Size Decline as a Unifying Ecological Selecting Agent in Pleistocene Human Evolution. QUATERNARY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/quat4010007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
We hypothesize that megafauna extinctions throughout the Pleistocene, that led to a progressive decline in large prey availability, were a primary selecting agent in key evolutionary and cultural changes in human prehistory. The Pleistocene human past is characterized by a series of transformations that include the evolution of new physiological traits and the adoption, assimilation, and replacement of cultural and behavioral patterns. Some changes, such as brain expansion, use of fire, developments in stone-tool technologies, or the scale of resource intensification, were uncharacteristically progressive. We previously hypothesized that humans specialized in acquiring large prey because of their higher foraging efficiency, high biomass density, higher fat content, and the use of less complex tools for their acquisition. Here, we argue that the need to mitigate the additional energetic cost of acquiring progressively smaller prey may have been an ecological selecting agent in fundamental adaptive modes demonstrated in the Paleolithic archaeological record. We describe several potential associations between prey size decline and specific evolutionary and cultural changes that might have been driven by the need to adapt to increased energetic demands while hunting and processing smaller and smaller game.
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Palmer KS, Makarewicz CA, Tishkin AA, Tur SS, Chunag A, Diimajav E, Jamsranjav B, Buckley M. Comparing the Use of Magnetic Beads with Ultrafiltration for Ancient Dental Calculus Proteomics. J Proteome Res 2021; 20:1689-1704. [PMID: 33596076 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Over the past two decades, proteomic analysis has greatly developed in application to the field of biomolecular archaeology, coinciding with advancements in LC-MS/MS instrumentation sensitivity and improvements in sample preparation methods. Recently, human dental calculus has received much attention for its well-preserved proteomes locked in mineralized dental plaque which stores information on human diets and the oral microbiome otherwise invisible to other biomolecular approaches. Maximizing proteome recovery in ancient dental calculus, available only in minute quantities and irreplaceable after destructive analysis, is of paramount importance. Here, we compare the more traditional ultrafiltration-based and acetone precipitation approaches with the newer paramagnetic bead approach in order to test the influence of demineralization acid on recovered proteome complexity obtained from specimens as well as the sequence coverages matched for significant proteins. We found that a protocol utilizing EDTA combined with paramagnetic beads increased proteome complexity, in some cases doubling the number of unique peptides and number of proteins matched, compared to protocols involving the use of HCl and either acetone precipitation or ultrafiltration. Although the increase in the number of proteins was almost exclusively of bacterial origin, a development that has implications for the study of diseases within these ancient populations, an increase in the peptide number for the dairy proteins β-lactoglobulin and casein was also observed reflecting an increase in sequence coverage for these dietary proteins of interest. We also consider structural explanations for the discrepancies observed between these two key dietary proteins preserved in archaeological dental calculus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karren S Palmer
- School of Natural Sciences, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom
| | - Cheryl A Makarewicz
- Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Johanna-Mestorf Strasse 2-6, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Alexey A Tishkin
- Department of Archeology, Ethnography, and Museology, Altai State University, Lenin Prospect 61, 656049 Barnaul, Russia
| | - Svetlana S Tur
- Department of Archeology, Ethnography, and Museology, Altai State University, Lenin Prospect 61, 656049 Barnaul, Russia
| | | | - Erdenebaatar Diimajav
- Department of Archaeology and History, Ulaanbataar State University, Luvsantseveen Street, 5th khoroo, 15th khorgoolol, Bayanzurk District 13343 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav
- National Museum of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, Juulchin Street-1, Ulaanbaatar 13343, Mongolia
| | - Michael Buckley
- School of Natural Sciences, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom
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Hoover KC. Sensory disruption and sensory inequities in the Anthropocene. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:128-140. [PMID: 33580579 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic disruptions to animal sensory ecology are as old as our species. But what about the effect on human sensory ecology? Human sensory dysfunction is increasing globally at great economic and health costs (mental, physical, and social). Contemporary sensory problems are directly tied to human behavioral changes and activity as well as anthropogenic pollution. The evolutionary sensory ecology and anthropogenic disruptions to three human senses (vision, audition, olfaction) are examined along with the economic and health costs of functionally reduced senses and demographic risk factors contributing to impairment. The primary goals of the paper are (a) to sew an evolutionary and ecological thread through clinical narratives on sensory dysfunction that highlights the impact of the built environment on the senses, and (b) to highlight structural, demographic, and environmental injustices that create sensory inequities in risk and that promote health disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara C Hoover
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
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46
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Isotopic calcium biogeochemistry of MIS 5 fossil vertebrate bones: application to the study of the dietary reconstruction of Regourdou 1 Neandertal fossil. J Hum Evol 2021; 151:102925. [PMID: 33412453 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The calcium isotopic composition (δ44/42Ca) of bone and tooth enamel can be used for dietary reconstructions of extant and extinct mammals. In natural conditions, the δ44/42Ca value of bone and teeth varies according to dietary intake with a constant isotopic offset of about -0.6‰. Owing to the poor conservation of collagen, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) isotopic compositions of the Regourdou Mousterian site (MIS 5, Dordogne, France) previously failed to provide any paleodietary information. Therefore, to reconstruct the trophic chain, we have measured calcium (Ca) isotopes from fossil bone samples of the fauna from the Regourdou site, as well as from three bone samples of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal specimen. The results show a taxon-dependent patterning of the Ca isotopic compositions: herbivores generally have higher δ44/42Ca values than carnivores. All the δ44/42Ca values of Regourdou 1 are low (<-1.6‰), placing this specimen amid carnivores. Using a bone-muscle Ca isotopic offset determined on extant animals, we further show that the δ44/42Ca value of the Regourdou 1 diet, and that of most carnivores, cannot be accounted for by the consumption of meat only, as plants and meat have indistinguishable δ44/42Ca values. Mass balance calculations indicate that the low δ44/42Ca values of the Neandertal's carnivorous diet are explained by the ingestion of bone marrow containing as little as 1% trabecular bone. Our results show that the Regourdou 1 Neanderthal consumed a mixture of various herbivorous prey, as well as trabecular bone, which probably occurred when marrow was ingested, by accident or intentionally.
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47
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Lycium barbarum (goji berry), human breast cancer, and antioxidant profile. Cancer 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-819547-5.00035-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
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Sørensen LK, Hasselstrøm JB, Larsen LS, Bindslev DA. Entrapment of drugs in dental calculus - Detection validation based on test results from post-mortem investigations. Forensic Sci Int 2020; 319:110647. [PMID: 33341470 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
For prospective investigation of drugs and metabolites in archaeological and contemporary dental calculus, a sensitive, broadly applicable ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionisation (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed. The dental calculus was treated with citric acid and the dissolution extracts were cleaned using weak and strong polymeric cation-exchange sorbents. The method was validated on hydroxyapatite for the analysis of 67 drugs and metabolites. Typically, the lower limits of quantification were in the range of 0.01-0.05ng for the sample mass extracted. The general applicability of the method was tested using dental calculus material sampled from 10 corpses undergoing forensic autopsy. The calculus material was washed several times before dissolution to remove residual substances originating from saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and blood. The wash extracts and the calculus samples (cleaned calculus material) were analysed using the same instrumental conditions. The dry mass of the calculus samples ranged from 1 to 10mg. The total number of drug detections was 131 in the dental calculus samples and 117 in the whole blood samples. From the analyses of the wash extracts and calculus samples, it was proven that drug residues were trapped in the interior of the calculus material. In 82 of the drug detections, the drug concentrations were higher in the dental calculus than in the blood. Among substances detected in the dental calculus but not in the blood were cocaine, heroin, 6-MAM and THCA-A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lambert K Sørensen
- Section for Forensic Chemistry, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200, Aarhus N, Denmark.
| | - Jørgen B Hasselstrøm
- Section for Forensic Chemistry, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200, Aarhus N, Denmark
| | - Line S Larsen
- Section of Dental Pathology, Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, Health, Aarhus University, Vennelyst Boulevard 9, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Dorthe A Bindslev
- Section for Forensic Pathology, Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200, Aarhus N, Denmark
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Han Y, Sun H, Zhang A, Yan G, Wang XJ. Chinmedomics, a new strategy for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of herbal medicines. Pharmacol Ther 2020; 216:107680. [PMID: 32956722 PMCID: PMC7500400 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 09/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Herbal medicines have accumulated valuable clinical experience in thousands of years of applications in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or ethnomedicine. The unique multi-target efficacy on complex diseases made herbal medicines gained a global popularity in recent years. However, the characteristic of multi-component acting on multi-target poses a dilemma for the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of herbal medicines. Advances in metabolomics enable efficient identification of the various changes in biological systems exposed to different treatments or conditions. The use of serum pharmacochemistry of TCM has significant implications for tackling the major issue in herbal medicines development-pharmacodynamic material basis. Chinmedomics integrates metabolomics and serum pharmacochemistry of TCM to investigate the pharmacodynamic material basis and effective mechanisms of herbal medicines on the basis of TCM syndromes and holds the promise of explaining therapeutic efficacy of herbal medicines in scientific language. In this review, the historical development of chinmedomics from concept formation to successful applications was discussed. We also took the systematic research of Yin Chen Hao Tang (YCHT) as an example to show the research strategy of chinmedomics.
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D’Agostino A, Canini A, Di Marco G, Nigro L, Spagnoli F, Gismondi A. Investigating Plant Micro-Remains Embedded in Dental Calculus of the Phoenician Inhabitants of Motya (Sicily, Italy). PLANTS 2020; 9:plants9101395. [PMID: 33092237 PMCID: PMC7590007 DOI: 10.3390/plants9101395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Plant records reveal remarkable evidence about past environments and human cultures. Exploiting dental calculus analysis and using a combined approach of microscopy and gas chromatography mass spectrometry, our research outlines dietary ecology and phytomedicinal practices of the ancient community of Motya (Sicily, eight to sixth century BC), one of the most important Phoenician settlements in the Mediterranean basin. Micro-remains suggest use or consumption of Triticeae cereals, and animal-derived sources (e.g., milk and aquatic birds). Markers of grape (or wine), herbs, and rhizomes, endemic of Mediterranean latitudes and the East, provide insight into the subsistence of this colony, in terms of foodstuffs and phytotherapeutic products. The application of resins and wood of Gymnosperms for social and cultural purposes is hypothesized through the identification of Pinaceae secondary metabolites and pollen grains. The information hidden in dental calculus discloses the strong human-plant interaction in Motya’s Phoenician community, in terms of cultural traditions and land use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia D’Agostino
- Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.D.); (G.D.M.)
| | - Antonella Canini
- Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.D.); (G.D.M.)
- Correspondence: (A.C.); (A.G.); Tel.: +39-06-7259-4330 (A.C.); +39-06-7259-4344 (A.G.); Fax: +39-06-2023-500 (A.C. & A.G.)
| | - Gabriele Di Marco
- Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.D.); (G.D.M.)
| | - Lorenzo Nigro
- Department Italian Institute of Oriental Studies—ISO, Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (L.N.); (F.S.)
| | - Federica Spagnoli
- Department Italian Institute of Oriental Studies—ISO, Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (L.N.); (F.S.)
| | - Angelo Gismondi
- Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.D.); (G.D.M.)
- Correspondence: (A.C.); (A.G.); Tel.: +39-06-7259-4330 (A.C.); +39-06-7259-4344 (A.G.); Fax: +39-06-2023-500 (A.C. & A.G.)
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