欧洲之前美洲的接触性麻风病及其目前的持续性，这一成果由法国巴黎大学
研究人员表明，在与欧洲人接触之前，麻风支原体病在美洲感染了人类。通过筛选389个古代样本和408个当代样本，该课题组扩大了该物种的遗传数据。系统发育分析揭示了不同的人类感染分枝麻风分枝，自殖民时代以来在北美占主导地位。在北美和南美存在千年历史的菌株表明，麻风支原体病可能在全新世晚期广泛存在，这表明在欧洲人到来之前，麻风支原体病在美洲有很长的历史。
据了解，麻风病主要由麻风分枝杆菌引起，被认为是欧洲殖民时期传入美洲的一种疾病。然而，最近发现的第二种引导麻风的病原体，主要在美洲发现的麻风分枝杆菌病，对这一观点提出了挑战。
附：英文原文
Title: Pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its current persistence
Author: Maria Lopopolo, Charlotte Avanzi, Sebastian Duchene, Pierre Luisi, Alida de Flamingh, Gabriel Yaxal Ponce-Soto, Gaetan Tressieres, Sarah Neumeyer, Frédéric Lemoine, Elizabeth A. Nelson, Miren Iraeta-Orbegozo, Jerome S. Cybulski, Joycelynn Mitchell, Vilma T. Marks, Linda B. Adams, John Lindo, Michael DeGiorgio, Nery Ortiz, Carlos Wiens, Juri Hiebert, Alexandro Bonifaz, Griselda Montes de Oca, Vanessa Paredes-Solis, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Lucio Vera-Cabrera, José G. Pereira Brunelli, Mary Jackson, John S. Spencer, Claudio G. Salgado, Xiang-Yang Han, Camron M. Pearce, Alaine K. Warren, Patricia S. Rosa, Amanda J. de Finardi, Andréa de F. F. Belone, Cynthia Ferreira, Philip N. Suffys, Amanda N. Brum Fontes, Sidra E. G. Vasconcellos, Roxane Schaub, Pierre Couppié, Kinan Drak Alsibai, Rigoberto Hernández-Castro, Mayra Silva Miranda, Iris Estrada-Garcia, Fermin Jurado-Santacruz, Ludovic Orlando, Hannes Schroeder, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Mariano Del Papa, Ramanuj Lahiri, Ripan S. Malhi, Simon Rasmussen, Nicolás Rascovan
Issue&Volume: 2025-05-29
Abstract: Leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is considered a disease introduced into the Americas during European colonization. However, the recent discovery of a second pathogen causing leprosy, M. lepromatosis, mainly found in the Americas, challenges this view. Here, we show that M. lepromatosis infected humans in the Americas before European contact. By screening 389 ancient and 408 contemporary samples, we have expanded the genetic data available for the species. Phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct human-infecting clades of M. lepromatosis, with one dominating North America since colonial times. The presence of millennia-old strains in North and South America indicates M. lepromatosis may have been widespread during the Late Holocene, demonstrating M. lepromatosis leprosy has a long-standing history in the Americas before European arrival.
DOI: adu7144
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu7144