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First genetic evidence of leprosy in early medieval Austria

Erster genetischer Nachweis von Lepra im frühmittelalterlichen Österreich

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Summary

Leprosy used to be a widespread, dreaded disease in Europe during the middle ages, and it still remains an important health problem in some parts of the world today. Herein, we present data on the earliest ‘Austrian’ (an adult female from the early medieval period) proven to have suffered from leprosy. Manifestations of the disease were first identified during a systematic screening of pathological changes in skeletons recovered from an archaeological site in Pottenbrunn (Lower Austria). In the present study, DNA extracts from selected cranial and postcranial bone samples were investigated using polymerase chain reaction primers specific to the Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) repetitive element (RLEP). M. leprae traces were detected in extracts from nasal and palatine bones. Sequence analysis of informative polymorphic sites supports previous reports indicating that European M. leprae strains fall into single nucleotide polymorphism group 3. In summary, these findings put Austria on the map of confirmed leprosy cases in ancient Europe.

Zusammenfassung

Lepra war während des Mittelalters eine in Europa weit verbreitete, gefürchtete Volkskrankheit, und gilt auch noch heute in manchen Teilen der Welt als ein wichtiges öffentliches Gesundheitsproblem. In diesem Artikel berichten wir über den ersten bestätigten Leprafall aus dem frühmittelalterlichen Österreich.

Die Symptome der Krankheit sind erstmals während eines systematischen Screenings der pathologischen Veränderungen an einem Skelett aus dem Gräberfeld von Pottenbrunn (Niederösterreich) identifiziert worden. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde DNA aus ausgewählten Schädel- und postcranialen Resten extrahiert und mittels Polymerase-Kettenreaktion untersucht. Spezifische DNA Spuren des Lepra-Erregers Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) wurden in Proben von Nasen- und Gaumenknochen eindeutig nachgewiesen und mittels Sequenzanalyse typisiert. Unsere Ergebnisse unterstützen frühere Hinweise, dass europäische M. leprae-Stämme zur Einzelnukleotid-Polymorphismen Gruppe 3 gehören.

Zusammenfassend erscheint Österreich aufgrund dieser Befunde erstmals auf der Landkarte bestätigter Leprafälle im alten Europa.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FDZ-Forensisches DNA Zentrallabor GmbH, Medical University of Vienna, Sensengasse 2, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Christian Gausterer PhD & Christina Stein PhD

  2. Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Maria Teschler-Nicola

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  1. Christian Gausterer PhD
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  2. Christina Stein PhD
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  3. Maria Teschler-Nicola
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Correspondence to Christian Gausterer PhD.

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Gausterer, C., Stein, C. & Teschler-Nicola, M. First genetic evidence of leprosy in early medieval Austria. Wien Med Wochenschr 165, 126–132 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-014-0287-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-014-0287-8

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