HLA-DRB genotyping of an Italian mummy from the 16th century with signs of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

REFERENCES

Viruses and Paleoparasitology

“…Another piece of information obtained from Italian mummies was the presence of the HLA-DRB allele in tissues from an individual dated to the 16 th century. This allele expresses epitopes associated with Epstein-Barr virus glycoprotein 110, suspected to be responsible for the development of rheumatoid arthritis, also found in the same mummy (Fontecchio et al, 2006). The finding is also relevant to the origin of the disease, which previous paleopathological studies contended to have originated in America, in the Tennessee region, between 5000 and 500 BC.…”

The Analysis and Interpretation of Mummifi ed Remains

“…Future advances in paleoserology may allow the detection of antibodies to pathogenic microorganisms, while improvements in DNA detection (Roberts and Ingham 2008) are already expanding our knowledge of the history and evolution of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (Fontecchio et al 2006) and infections such as plague (Bianucci et al 2008a), malaria (Nerlich et al 2008, Hawass et al 2010) and influenza (Tumpey et al 2005). Pathogenic DNA from the 1918 flu virus has been recovered from remains buried in permafrost and DNA diagnostic of tuberculosis has been recovered from a Pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy (Salo et al 1994), confirming the presence of this disease on both sides of the Atlantic.…”

Portrait of the artist as a sick man. Rheumatological pathography of James Joyce (1882-1941)

“…Un esame radiologico dei resti sarebbe di grande ausilio per esaminare lo stato delle articolazioni, mai documentato in vita. L'esame del DNA con relativa tipizzazione HLA, pur non assumendo un vero e proprio valore diagnostico, è in grado di fornire validi indizi sulla predisposizione allo sviluppo delle diverse artropatie (33,43), come recentemente dimostrato in un caso controverso di artrite reumatoide in una mummia italiana seicentesca (49,50). Ulteriori esami, come quelli istologici, e la ricerca di patogeni antichi potrebbero aggiungere elementi utili al corretto inquadramento diagnostico del caso.…”