Parasitic infections and resource economy of Danish Iron Age settlement through ancient DNA sequencing

Abstract

In this study, we screen archaeological soil samples by microscopy and analyse the samples by next generation sequencing to obtain results with parasites at species level and untargeted findings of plant and animal DNA. Three separate sediment layers of an ancient man-made pond in Hoby, Denmark, ranging from 100 BC to 200 AD, were analysed by microscopy for presence of intestinal worm eggs and DNA analysis were performed to identify intestinal worms and dietary components. Ancient DNA of parasites, domestic animals and edible plants revealed a change in use of the pond over time reflecting the household practice in the adjacent Iron Age settlement. The most abundant parasite found belonged to the Ascaris genus, which was not possible to type at species level. For all sediment layers the presence of eggs of the human whipworm Trichuris trichiura and the beef tapeworm Taenia saginata suggests continuous disposal of human faeces in the pond. Moreover, the continuous findings of T. saginata further imply beef consumption and may suggest that cattle were living in the immediate surrounding of the site throughout the period. Findings of additional host-specific parasites suggest fluctuating presence of other domestic animals over time: Trichuris suis (pig), Parascaris univalens (horse), Taenia hydatigena (dog and sheep). Likewise, alternating occurrence of aDNA of edible plants may suggest changes in agricultural practices. Moreover, the composition of aDNA of parasites, plants and vertebrates suggests a significant change in the use of the ancient pond over a period of three centuries.

Epidemiological insights from a large-scale investigation of intestinal helminths in Medieval Europe

“…and D. latum) were identified in four sites although the rates of infection were much lower than with the nematodes. Eggs from these cestodes have previously been identified in archaeological deposits [5,7,30,57,58,[68][69][70][71] although before the current study estimates of prevalence would have been inappropriate. Human infections with Taenia spp.…”

Integrative analysis the characterization of LAMBs in predicting the prognosis and the immunotherapy response of cancers

“…In the modulation of TME, multiple immune cell types and cancer cell changes contribute to the speci city of the treatment regimen. Therefore, immunometabolism provides an opportunity to identify new targets to improve cancer therapies (25).Previous studies have found LAMBs expression may contribute to increased in ltration of TAMs, which not only acted as a potent prognostic factor to predict the clinical outcomes of cancer patients but was also a promising immunotherapy predictive biomarker for cancer patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (33). Laminin subunit beta-2 (Lamb2), downregulated by anti-PD-1, signi cantly predicts patient surviva in obesityassociated breast cancer (34).…”

visiting the Roman Iron Age Hoby chieftain burial after 100 years of its discovery - adding the strontium isotopic perspective

“…The results of these investigations reveal evidence of intestinal worms and dietary components. While these analyses produced interesting results documenting a change in the use of the holes over time (Tams et al 2018), they did not provide any clarifying information regarding original purpose or function. It is however clear that animal bones, including jaw bones, had been thrown into the holes shortly after they had been dug.…”