Using SXRF and LA-ICP-TOFMS to Explore Evidence of Treatment and Physiological Responses to Leprosy in Medieval Denmark

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Final published version, 9.06 MB, PDF document

  • Anastasia Brozou
  • Marcello A. Mannino
  • Stijn J.M. Van Malderen
  • Jan Garrevoet
  • Eric Pubert
  • Benjamin T. Fuller
  • M. Christopher Dean
  • Thomas Colard
  • Frédéric Santos
  • Lynnerup, Niels
  • Jesper L. Boldsen
  • Jørkov, Marie Louise Schjellerup
  • Andrei Dorian Soficaru
  • Laszlo Vincze
  • Adeline Le Cabec

Leprosy can lead to blood depletion in Zn, Ca, Mg, and Fe and blood enrichment in Cu. In late medieval Europe, minerals were used to treat leprosy. Here, physiological responses to leprosy and possible evidence of treatment are investigated in enamel, dentine, and cementum of leprosy sufferers from medieval Denmark (n = 12) and early 20th century Romania (n = 2). Using SXRF and LA-ICP-TOFMS, 12 elements were mapped in 15 tooth thin sections, and the statistical covariation of paired elements was computed to assess their biological relevance. The results show marked covariations in the Zn, Ca, and Mg 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 (As, Hg) or a diffuse distribution (Pb) related to daily ingestion. Intense Pb enrichments indicate acute incorporations of Pb, potentially through the administration of Pb-enriched medication or the mobilization of Pb 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 Pb and essential elements may indicate underlying pathophysiological conditions, demonstrating the potential of SXRF and LA-ICP-TOFMS for paleopathological investigations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number184
JournalBiology
Volume12
Issue number2
Number of pages23
ISSN2079-7737
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The SXRF data were acquired on the PETRA III P06 beamline at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY, Hamburg, Germany), a member of the Helmholtz Association HGF. The experiment was performed using beamtime granted by Proposal I-20190203 and supported partly through Maxwell computational resources operated at DESY. A. Brozou acknowledges the funding provided by the Faculty of Arts (Aarhus University) to finance her Ph.D. position. M.C. Dean is supported by the Calleva Foundation at CHER, Natural History Museum, London. M.A. Mannino is indebted to the Aarhus University Research Foundation, which funded the analyses that initiated the project and enabled the sample selection (project: “Danish & European Diets in Time”; AUFF-E-2015-FLS-8-2).

    Research areas

  • calcium, dental tissues, lead, leprosy treatment, mineral imbalances, zinc

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 339329170