%0 Journal Article
%A Brozou, Anastasia
%A Mannino, Marcello A.
%A Van Malderen, Stijn J. M.
%A Garrevoet, Jan
%A Pubert, Eric
%A Fuller, Benjamin T.
%A Dean, M. Christopher
%A Colard, Thomas
%A Santos, Frédéric
%A Lynnerup, Niels
%A Boldsen, Jesper L.
%A Jørkov, Marie Louise
%A Soficaru, Andrei Dorian
%A Vincze, Laszlo
%A Le Cabec, Adeline
%+ Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Using SXRF and LA-ICP-TOFMS to explore evidence of treatment and physiological responses to leprosy in medieval Denmark : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000C-BABD-E
%R 10.3390/biology12020184
%7 2023-01-25
%D 2023
%8 25.01.2023
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease, leads to blood mineral imbalances: low levels of zinc, calcium, magnesium, and iron and high levels of copper. Interestingly, in late medieval Europe, minerals were used to treat leprosy. We investigated physiological responses to leprosy and possible evidence of treatment in dental tissues of leprosy sufferers from medieval Denmark and early 20th century Romania when multidrug therapy was not then yet invented. Using Synchrotron Fluorescence (SXRF) and laser ablation (LA-ICP-TOFMS), we show marked covariations in the zinc, calcium, and magnesium distributions, which are compatible with clinical studies but cannot be directly attributed to leprosy. Minerals used historically as a treatment for leprosy show no detectable intake (arsenic, mercury) or a diffuse distribution (lead) related to the daily consumption of contaminated water and food. Intense lead enrichments indicate acute incorporations, potentially through the administration of lead-enriched medication or the mobilization of lead from bone stores to the bloodstream during intense physiological stress related to leprosy. However, comparisons with a healthy control group are needed to ascertain these interpretations. The positive correlations and the patterns observed between lead and essential elements may indicate underlying pathophysiological conditions, demonstrating the potential of the two techniques for investigating diseases in past populations.
%K first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Open AccessArticle
Using SXRF and LA-ICP-TOFMS to Explore Evidence of Treatment and Physiological Responses to Leprosy in Medieval Denmark
by Anastasia Brozou
1,2 [ORCID] , Marcello A. Mannino
1, Stijn J. M. Van Malderen
3,4 [ORCID] , Jan Garrevoet
3, Eric Pubert
5 [ORCID] , Benjamin T. Fuller
1,6, M. Christopher Dean
7,8 [ORCID] , Thomas Colard
5,9, Frédéric Santos
5 [ORCID] , Niels Lynnerup
10, Jesper L. Boldsen
11, Marie Louise Jørkov
10 [ORCID] , Andrei Dorian Soficaru
12, Laszlo Vincze
13 [ORCID] and Adeline Le Cabec
5,14,* [ORCID]
1
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark
2
Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
3
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestraße 85, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
4
Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281-S12, 9000 Gent, Belgium
5
Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33600 Pessac, France
6
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 31400 Toulouse, France
7
Department of Earth Sciences, Centre for Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
8
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
9
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Lille, Lille University Hospital, F-59000 Lille, France
10
Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Frederik V’s Vej 11, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
11
Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark
12
‘Francisc I. Rainer’ Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
13
Department of Chemistry, X-ray Microspectroscopy and Imaging Research Group (XMI), Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S12, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
14
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
 
remove Hide full affiliation list
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biology 2023, 12(2), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12020184
Received: 9 December 2022 / Revised: 19 January 2023 / Accepted: 20 January 2023 / Published: 25 January 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Insights into Life History)
Download Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Simple Summary

%J Biology
%V 12
%& 184
%P 184
%I MDPI
%@ 2079-7737