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van Doren TP. Biocultural perspectives of infectious diseases and demographic evolution: Tuberculosis and its comorbidities through history. Evol Anthropol 2022; 32:100-117. [PMID: 36436141 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Anthropologists recognize the importance of conceptualizing health in the context of the mutually evolving nature of biology and culture through the biocultural approach, but biocultural anthropological perspectives of infectious diseases and their impacts on humans (and vice versa) through time are relatively underrepresented. Tuberculosis (TB) has been a constant companion of humans for thousands of years and has heavily influenced population health in almost every phase of cultural and demographic evolution. TB in human populations has been dramatically influenced by behavior, demographic and epidemiological shifts, and other comorbidities through history. This paper critically discusses TB and some of its major comorbidities through history within a biocultural framework to show how transitions in human demography and culture affected the disease-scape of TB. In doing so, I address the potential synthesis of biocultural and epidemiological transition theory to better comprehend the mutual evolution of infectious diseases and humans.
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Filipek KL, Roberts CA, Montgomery J, Gowland RL, Moore J, Tucker K, Evans JA. Creating communities of care: Sex estimation and mobility histories of adolescents buried in the cemetery of St. Mary Magdalen leprosarium (Winchester, England). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [PMCID: PMC9306906 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Objectives This study examines the biological sex and geographical origins of adolescents buried at the St Mary Magdalen leprosarium (Winchester, UK). The data are combined with archaeological and palaeopathological evidence to broaden the understanding of mobility and its relationship to leprosy and leprosaria in Medieval England. Materials and Methods Nineteen individuals (~10–25 at death) with skeletal lesions diagnostic of leprosy were analyzed using standard osteological methods. Amelogenin peptides were extracted from five individuals whose biological sex could not be assessed from macroscopic methods. Enamel samples were analyzed to produce 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values to explore mobility histories. Results Amelogenin peptides revealed three males and two females. Tooth enamel samples provided an 87Sr/86Sr ratio range from 0.7084 to 0.7103 (mean 0.7090, ±0.0012, 2σ). δ18OP values show a wide range of 15.6‰–19.3‰ (mean 17.8 ± 1.6‰ 2σ), with corresponding δ18ODW values ranging from −9.7‰ to −4.1‰ (mean −6.3 ± 2.4‰ 2σ). Discussion Amelogenin peptide data reveal the presence of adolescent females with bone changes of leprosy, making them the youngest confirmed females with leprosy in the archaeological record. Results also show at least 12 adolescents were local, and seven were from further afield, including outside Britain. Since St. Mary Magdalen was a leprosarium, it is possible that these people traveled there specifically for care. Archaeological and palaeopathological data support the notion that care was provided at this facility and that leprosy stigma, as we understand it today, may not have existed in this time and place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kori Lea Filipek
- Department of Archaeology Durham University Durham UK
- Human Sciences Research Centre, School of Human Sciences University of Derby Derby UK
| | | | | | | | - Joanna Moore
- Department of Archaeology Durham University Durham UK
| | - Katie Tucker
- Department of Archaeology University of Winchester Winchester UK
| | - Jane A. Evans
- National Environmental Isotope Facility British Geological Survey Keyworth UK
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Newfield TP. Syndemics and the history of disease: Towards a new engagement. Soc Sci Med 2021; 295:114454. [PMID: 34627635 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114454] [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: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Historians of medicine and disease have yet to think through a syndemic lens. This commentary aims to point out why they should. Although there are several hurdles to overcome, our histories of disease and our understanding of current syndemics both stand to gain should historians begin to explore episodes of cooccurring diseases that share root causes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy P Newfield
- Department of History, Department of Biology, Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets NW, ICC 600, Washington, DC, 20057, USA.
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Miszkiewicz JJ, Valentin F, Vrahnas C, Sims NA, Vongsvivut J, Tobin MJ, Clark G. Bone loss markers in the earliest Pacific Islanders. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3981. [PMID: 33597553 PMCID: PMC7889909 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-83264-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia is one of the most obese nations where metabolic conditions, sedentary lifestyles, and poor quality diet are widespread. These factors can lead to poor musculoskeletal health. However, whether metabolic abnormalities such as osteoporosis occurred in archaeological populations of Tonga is unknown. We employed a microscopic investigation of femur samples to establish whether bone loss afflicted humans in this Pacific region approximately 3000 years ago. Histology, laser confocal microscopy, and synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy were used to measure bone vascular canal densities, bone porosity, and carbonate and phosphate content of bone composition in eight samples extracted from adult Talasiu males and females dated to 2650 BP. Compared to males, samples from females had fewer vascular canals, lower carbonate and phosphate content, and higher bone porosity. Although both sexes showed evidence of trabecularised cortical bone, it was more widespread in females (35.5%) than males (15.8%). Our data suggest experiences of advanced bone resorption, possibly as a result of osteoporosis. This provides first evidence for microscopic bone loss in a sample of archaeological humans from a Pacific population widely afflicted by metabolic conditions today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justyna J Miszkiewicz
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, 44 Linnaeus Way, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
| | - Frédérique Valentin
- CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn, Ethnologie préhistorique, Maison René-Ginouvès, Archéologie et Ethnologie, 21 Allée de l'Université, 92023, Nanterre Cedex, France.,Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Christina Vrahnas
- Bone Biology and Disease Unit, St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, 9 Princes Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, VIC, 3065, Australia.,Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3065, Australia.,MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, James Black Centre, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Natalie A Sims
- Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3065, Australia.,MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, James Black Centre, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, UK
| | - Jitraporn Vongsvivut
- Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia
| | - Mark J Tobin
- Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia
| | - Geoffrey Clark
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
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Lipid nanoparticles with improved biopharmaceutical attributes for tuberculosis treatment. Int J Pharm 2021; 596:120321. [PMID: 33539994 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Tuberculosis is a topic of relevance worldwide because of the social and biological factors that triggered the disease and the economic burden on the health-care systems that imply its therapeutic treatment. Challenges to handle these issues include, among others, research on technological breakthroughs modifying the drug regimens to facilitate therapy adherence, avoid mycobacterium drug resistance, and minimize toxic side-effects. Lipid nanoparticles arise as a promising strategy in this respect as deduced from the reported scientific data. They are prepared from biodegradable and biocompatible starting materials and compared to the use of the free drugs, the entrapment of active molecules into the carriers might lead to both dose reduction and controlled delivery. Moreover, the target to the lung, the organ mainly affected by the disease, could be possible if the particle surface is modified. Although conclusive statements cannot be made considering the limited number of available research works, looking into what has been achieved up to now definitively encourages to continue investigations in this regard.
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