A case of syphilis with high bone arsenic concentration from early modern cemetery (Wroclaw, Poland)

Abstract

Venereal syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum – Gram-negative, slowly growing bacteria. The spread of the disease in the Old World was due to increased birth rate, urban population growth, migration and lack of knowledge concerning the epidemiology. In the past, the treatment was mainly symptomatic and included application of mercury compounds. The goal of the study was to present the case of advanced venereal syphilis found in early modern (16th–18thc) graveyard localized in Wroclaw, Poland. The object of the study is a cranium of a male whose age at death has been estimated to be over 55. In order to observe the morphological and paleopathological characteristics of the examined material, anthropometrics, computed tomography, spectrometry and microscopic methods were incorporated. Microscopic analysis revealed the presence of the extensive inflammatory lesions. Analyses indicate tertiary stage of venereal syphilis as the most probable cause of the observed lesions. Concentration of arsenic (16.17±0.58 μg/g) in examined bone samples was about hundred times bigger than average arsenic concentration in bones reported in other studies. Advanced stage of observed lesions along with high arsenic level may suggest long-lasting palliative care and usage of arsenic compound in therapeutic treatment of this chronic disease.

Historical overview and new directions in bioarchaeological trace element analysis: a review

“…Both As and Hg have historically been used as medicine by health practitioners from various populations (Goldwater 1972 ; Jolliffe 1993 ); some bioarchaeological studies have consequently investigated cases of As and Hg toxicity potentially resulting from medicinal treatments (Tucker 2007 ; Rasmussen et al 2008 ; Kępa et al 2012 ; Swanston et al 2015 ; Walser III et al 2018 ; Dabrowski et al 2019 ). Comparatively high levels (16.17 ± 0.58 μg/g) of skeletal As were discovered in an individual from Wroclaw, Poland (late sixteenth to mid-eighteenth centuries CE) with skeletal signs of syphilis, indicating As was used as a medicine (Dabrowski et al 2019 ). Similarly, high levels of mercury (Hg) were found among Danish monks interred at the Cistercian Abbey cemetery at Øm but not at the Franciscan Friary of Svenborg (Rasmussen et al 2008 ).…”

Syphilis: then and now

“…Due to the fact that it was expensive and folk healers and doctors had no experience, another way of dealing with the disease was invented. The naked patient was buried up to his neck in dung, which was to “pull out” the disease [ 16 , 17 ]. When new isolation facilities where the disease was treated with the use of mercury appeared, this method was slowly abandoned, yet it survived until the eighteenth century [ 18 , 19 ].…”