1
|
Hünemeier T. Biogeographic Perspectives on Human Genetic Diversification. Mol Biol Evol 2024; 41:msae029. [PMID: 38349332 PMCID: PMC10917211 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msae029] [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: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Modern humans originated in Africa 300,000 yr ago, and before leaving their continent of origin, they underwent a process of intense diversification involving complex demographic dynamics. Upon exiting Africa, different populations emerged on the four other inhabited continents, shaped by the interplay of various evolutionary processes, such as migrations, founder effects, and natural selection. Within each region, continental populations, in turn, diversified and evolved almost independently for millennia. As a backdrop to this diversification, introgressions from archaic species contributed to establishing different patterns of genetic diversity in different geographic regions, reshaping our understanding of our species' variability. With the increasing availability of genomic data, it has become possible to delineate the subcontinental human population structure precisely. However, the bias toward the genomic research focused on populations from the global North has limited our understanding of the real diversity of our species and the processes and events that guided different human groups throughout their evolutionary history. This perspective is part of a series of articles celebrating 40 yr since our journal, Molecular Biology and Evolution, was founded (Russo et al. 2024). The perspective is accompanied by virtual issues, a selection of papers on human diversification published by Genome Biology and Evolution and Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tábita Hünemeier
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Population Genetics Department, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE - CSIC/Universitat Pompeu Fabra), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Charlier P, Bourdin V. Evidence of Cushing's syndrome in a pre-Columbian Mexican statue? ANNALES D'ENDOCRINOLOGIE 2022; 83:475-478. [PMID: 36183806 DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2022.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In the absence of skeletons or written narrations, information about diseases in past societies may be acquired from icono-diagnosis. From the observation of a masterpiece presenting pathological features, we tried to make retrospective diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD A pre-Columbian Mexican statuette originating from the Chupicuaro culture and dated 600 BC to 200 AD - conserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris (Section of the quai Branly - Jacques Chirac museum) was examined; it was found to display a huge spinal curvature with excessive dorsal kyphosis and obesity. RESULTS The appearance of the figurine with large head, shortened stature and limbs, may suggest a form of dwarfism; however, many statuettes in the Chupicuaro culture were found displaying large head and relatively short limbs, suggesting that these pictorial features are more of an artistic style. On the contrary, uncommon kyphosis and obesity led us to diagnose a case of either Pott disease associated with neuro-endocrine complications, or of Cushing's disease. CONCLUSION Although icono-diagnosis could have allowed us to contribute to the health mapping of ancient Americas and propose the presence of complicated tuberculosis in central Mexico between 600 BC and 200 AD, we believe "Choupi" portrays here an individual having suffered from hypercortisolism (Cushing's disease). Even though considerations related to cultural and artistic context may constitute limitations to interpretation, iconotopsy/iconodiagnosis are important for a better description of the natural history of diseases, as a complement to morphological analyses of human remains (paleopathology) and laboratory exams (DNA or immunology testing).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Charlier
- Laboratoire anthropologie, archéologie, biologie (LAAB), université Paris-Saclay (UVSQ), UFR des sciences de la santé, 2, avenue de la source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France; Direction département de la recherche et de l'enseignement, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 222, rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France; Fondation Anthropologie, Archéologie, Biologie (FAAB) - Institut de France, Palais de l'Institut, 23 quai de Conti, 75006 Paris, France.
| | - Virginie Bourdin
- Laboratoire anthropologie, archéologie, biologie (LAAB), université Paris-Saclay (UVSQ), UFR des sciences de la santé, 2, avenue de la source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France; Direction département de la recherche et de l'enseignement, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 222, rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Suby JA. The pathway of tuberculosis in Argentina: Historical (19th and 20th centuries), epidemiological, and paleopathological data. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2021; 34:82-89. [PMID: 34218135 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This paper explores the history of TB in Argentina from the pre- Columbian period to recent times in order to evaluate the impact of the industrialization (late 19th and early 20th centuries) on the increasing rates of this disease. MATERIALS Historical, paleopathological, and current epidemiological data were reviewed. METHODS Data were integrated under a paleopathological approach. RESULTS Skeletal evidence suggests the existence of TB before colonization. This is followed by two different periods of increasing TB rates: a probable but unconfirmed first stage, related to the contact between Europeans and natives during the 16th-18th centuries, and a second stage during the Industrial Revolution, from the 1880s to the 1950s, when it was finally controlled with the aid of chemotherapies. CONCLUSIONS TB rates increased during industrialization, coincident and probably related to immigration, the disorganized growth of cities, and bad working conditions. Nowadays, TB is under control in the general population, but it remains an important health problem in areas with poor living conditions and in immunocompromised patients. SIGNIFICANCE This is the first study that integrates archaeological, historical and epidemiological data to acknowledge the pathway of TB in Argentina. LIMITATIONS No skeletal evidence of TB from 19th and 20th centuries and from medical archives from sanatoria are available. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Further research needs to be conducted from these records, in order to improve the current knowledge of TB during the industrialization period in Argentina.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jorge A Suby
- INCUAPA-CONICET. Bioarchaeology Research Group., Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Social Sciences, National University of the Center of Buenos Aires Province, 508 Street No. 881, Quequén, Buenos Aires, ZIP 7630, Argentina.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Mackowiak PA. Prior pandemics. looking to the past for insight into the COVID-19 pandemic. J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect 2021; 11:163-170. [PMID: 33889313 PMCID: PMC8043558 DOI: 10.1080/20009666.2020.1855706] [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] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 is not the world's first pandemic, not its worst, or likely to be its last. In fact, there have been many pandemics throughout history with lessons for the current one. The most destructive pandemic of all time, at least in terms of the number of people killed in the shortest time, was the “Spanish flu“ pandemic of 1918/1919. Why did it happen? What lessons did it teach us? And could it happen again? These questions are addressed in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic and several other nearly equally devastating pandemics of earlier times
Collapse
|
5
|
Charlier P, Deps P. Possible new evidence of pre-Columbian tuberculosis in America: Pott disease in a prehistoric Mexican statue. Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019; 116:35-36. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2019.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
|
6
|
Woodman M, Haeusler IL, Grandjean L. Tuberculosis Genetic Epidemiology: A Latin American Perspective. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10010053. [PMID: 30654542 PMCID: PMC6356704 DOI: 10.3390/genes10010053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
There are an estimated 10 million new cases of tuberculosis worldwide annually, with 282,000 new or relapsed cases each year reported from the Americas. With improvements in genome sequencing technology, it is now possible to study the genetic diversity of tuberculosis with much greater resolution. Although tuberculosis bacteria do not engage in horizontal gene transfer, the genome is far more variable than previously thought. The study of genome-wide variation in tuberculosis has improved our understanding of the evolutionary origins of tuberculosis, the arrival of tuberculosis in Latin America, the genetic determinants of drug resistance, and lineage-specific associations with important clinical phenotypes. This article reviews what is known about the arrival of tuberculosis in Latin America, the genetic diversity of tuberculosis in Latin America, and the genotypic determinants of clinical phenotypes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Woodman
- Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 3JH, UK.
| | - Ilsa L Haeusler
- Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 3JH, UK.
| | - Louis Grandjean
- Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 3JH, UK.
- Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UK.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 3JH, UK.
- Laboratorio de Investigacion y Desarollo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Av. Honorio Delgado 430, San Martin de Porres 15102, Lima, Peru.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Darling MI, Donoghue HD. Insights from paleomicrobiology into the indigenous peoples of pre-colonial America - a review. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2016; 109:131-9. [PMID: 24714964 PMCID: PMC4015261 DOI: 10.1590/0074-0276140589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
This review investigates ancient infectious diseases in the Americas dated to the
pre-colonial period and considers what these findings can tell us about the history
of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It gives an overview, but focuses on four
microbial pathogens from this period: Helicobacter pylori,
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Trypanosoma cruzi
and Coccidioides immitis, which cause stomach ulceration and gastric
cancer, tuberculosis, Chagas disease and valley fever, respectively. These pathogens
were selected as H. pylori can give insight into ancient human
migrations into the Americas, M. tuberculosis is associated with
population density and urban development, T. cruzi can elucidate
human living conditions and C. immitis can indicate agricultural
development. A range of methods are used to diagnose infectious disease in ancient
human remains, with DNA analysis by polymerase chain reaction one of the most
reliable, provided strict precautions are taken against cross contamination. The
review concludes with a brief summary of the changes that took place after European
exploration and colonisation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Millie I Darling
- Division of Biosciences, Centre for Clinical Microbiology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Helen D Donoghue
- Division of Biosciences, Centre for Clinical Microbiology, University College London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Abstract
The causative agent of human tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is an obligate pathogen that evolved to exclusively persist in human populations. For M. tuberculosis to transmit from person to person, it has to cause pulmonary disease. Therefore, M. tuberculosis virulence has likely been a significant determinant of the association between M. tuberculosis and humans. Indeed, the evolutionary success of some M. tuberculosis genotypes seems at least partially attributable to their increased virulence. The latter possibly evolved as a consequence of human demographic expansions. If co-evolution occurred, humans would have counteracted to minimize the deleterious effects of M. tuberculosis virulence. The fact that human resistance to infection has a strong genetic basis is a likely consequence of such a counter-response. The genetic architecture underlying human resistance to M. tuberculosis remains largely elusive. However, interactions between human genetic polymorphisms and M. tuberculosis genotypes have been reported. Such interactions are consistent with local adaptation and allow for a better understanding of protective immunity in TB. Future 'genome-to-genome' studies, in which locally associated human and M. tuberculosis genotypes are interrogated in conjunction, will help identify new protective antigens for the development of better TB vaccines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Brites
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) ranks as the second cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide after HIV. Archaeogenetics and evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) are in favor of a long-term interaction between tuberculosis and humans, predating the Neolithic period, contrary to the traditional belief. If tuberculosis evolved as a human pathogen in Africa and has spread outside Africa about more than ten-thousand years ago, its life history traits have been shaped by the immune system. Numerous studies described a variety of human susceptibility factors to TB, suggesting that MTBC strains have evolved different ways to overcome this system. However, the results of these studies reveal some inconsistencies even within populations. The temporally varying history of epidemics and ever-varying genetic diversity of pathogens and strains could easily contribute to blur out signal of selection in our human genome. Palaeomicrobiology gives the opportunity to genotype ancient TB strains circulating in past populations. Accessing ancient human pathogens allows us to a better understanding of infectious agents over a longer time scale and confrontation with the dynamic of modern TB strains. Nevertheless, we have to consider tuberculosis as a multifactorial disorder in which environmental factors interact tightly with human and pathogen genetic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pascale Perrin
- MIVEGEC Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle (CNRS 5290-IRD 224-UM1)/ Université Montpellier 2, DYSMI Team, Centre IRD de Montpellier, 911Avenue Agropolis - BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier Cedex, France.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Lee OYC, Wu HHT, Donoghue HD, Spigelman M, Greenblatt CL, Bull ID, Rothschild BM, Martin LD, Minnikin DE, Besra GS. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex lipid virulence factors preserved in the 17,000-year-old skeleton of an extinct bison, Bison antiquus. PLoS One 2012; 7:e41923. [PMID: 22860031 PMCID: PMC3408397 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2012] [Accepted: 06/29/2012] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Tracing the evolution of ancient diseases depends on the availability and accessibility of suitable biomarkers in archaeological specimens. DNA is potentially information-rich but it depends on a favourable environment for preservation. In the case of the major mycobacterial pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, robust lipid biomarkers are established as alternatives or complements to DNA analyses. A DNA report, a decade ago, suggested that a 17,000-year-old skeleton of extinct Bison antiquus, from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, was the oldest known case of tuberculosis. In the current study, key mycobacterial lipid virulence factor biomarkers were detected in the same two samples from this bison. Fluorescence high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) indicated the presence of mycolic acids of the mycobacterial type, but they were degraded and could not be precisely correlated with tuberculosis. However, pristine profiles of C29, C30 and C32 mycocerosates and C27 mycolipenates, typical of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, were recorded by negative ion chemical ionization gas chromatography mass spectrometry of pentafluorobenzyl ester derivatives. These findings were supported by the detection of C34 and C36 phthiocerols, which are usually esterified to the mycocerosates. The existence of Pleistocene tuberculosis in the Americas is confirmed and there are many even older animal bones with well-characterised tuberculous lesions similar to those on the analysed sample. In the absence of any evidence of tuberculosis in human skeletons older than 9,000 years BP, the hypothesis that this disease evolved as a zoonosis, before transfer to humans, is given detailed consideration and discussion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Oona Y-C. Lee
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Houdini H. T. Wu
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Helen D. Donoghue
- Centre for Clinical Microbiology (M9), Royal Free Campus, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Spigelman
- Centre for Clinical Microbiology (M9), Royal Free Campus, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Ancient DNA, Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Charles L. Greenblatt
- Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Ancient DNA, Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ian D. Bull
- Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Bruce M. Rothschild
- Department of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, United States of America
- Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Larry D. Martin
- Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - David E. Minnikin
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Gurdyal S. Besra
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Leprosy and the natural selection for psoriasis. Med Hypotheses 2012; 78:183-90. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2011] [Accepted: 10/21/2011] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
|