TY - JOUR
T1 - Ancient DNA study reveals HLA susceptibility locus for leprosy in medieval Europeans
AU - Krause-Kyora, Ben
AU - Nutsua, Marcel
AU - Boehme, Lisa
AU - Pierini, Federica
AU - Pedersen, Dorthe Dangvard
AU - Kornell, Sabin Christin
AU - Drichel, Dmitriy
AU - Bonazzi, Marion
AU - Möbus, Lena
AU - Tarp, Peter
AU - Susat, Julian
AU - Bosse, Esther
AU - Willburger, Beatrix
AU - Schmidt, Alexander H.
AU - Sauter, Jürgen
AU - Franke, Andre
AU - Wittig, Michael
AU - Caliebe, Amke
AU - Nothnagel, Michael
AU - Schreiber, Stefan
AU - Boldsen, Jesper L.
AU - Lenz, Tobias L.
AU - Nebel, Almut
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), was very common in Europe till the 16th century. Here, we perform an ancient DNA study on medieval skeletons from Denmark that show lesions specific for lepromatous leprosy (LL). First, we test the remains for M. leprae DNA to confirm the infection status of the individuals and to assess the bacterial diversity. We assemble 10 complete M. leprae genomes that all differ from each other. Second, we evaluate whether the human leukocyte antigen allele DRB1∗15:01, a strong LL susceptibility factor in modern populations, also predisposed medieval Europeans to the disease. The comparison of genotype data from 69 M. leprae DNA-positive LL cases with those from contemporary and medieval controls reveals a statistically significant association in both instances. In addition, we observe that DRB1∗15:01 co-occurs with DQB1∗06:02 on a haplotype that is a strong risk factor for inflammatory diseases today.
AB - Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), was very common in Europe till the 16th century. Here, we perform an ancient DNA study on medieval skeletons from Denmark that show lesions specific for lepromatous leprosy (LL). First, we test the remains for M. leprae DNA to confirm the infection status of the individuals and to assess the bacterial diversity. We assemble 10 complete M. leprae genomes that all differ from each other. Second, we evaluate whether the human leukocyte antigen allele DRB1∗15:01, a strong LL susceptibility factor in modern populations, also predisposed medieval Europeans to the disease. The comparison of genotype data from 69 M. leprae DNA-positive LL cases with those from contemporary and medieval controls reveals a statistically significant association in both instances. In addition, we observe that DRB1∗15:01 co-occurs with DQB1∗06:02 on a haplotype that is a strong risk factor for inflammatory diseases today.
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-03857-x
DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-03857-x
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 29717136
AN - SCOPUS:85046350691
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 9
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
M1 - 1569
ER -