On the age of leprosy.
Leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin and nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the newly discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Human leprosy has been documented for millennia in ancient cultures. Recent genomic studies of worldwide M. leprae strains have further traced it along global hum...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:682d170b5b73423caf9cb49e60bd67ab 2023-05-15T15:03:57+02:00 On the age of leprosy. Xiang Y Han Francisco J Silva 2014-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 https://doaj.org/article/682d170b5b73423caf9cb49e60bd67ab EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3923669?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 https://doaj.org/article/682d170b5b73423caf9cb49e60bd67ab PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 8, Iss 2, p e2544 (2014) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 2022-12-31T03:49:37Z Leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin and nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the newly discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Human leprosy has been documented for millennia in ancient cultures. Recent genomic studies of worldwide M. leprae strains have further traced it along global human dispersals during the past ∼ 100,000 years. Because leprosy bacilli are strictly intracellular, we wonder how long humans have been affected by this disease-causing parasite. Based on recently published data on M. leprae genomes, M. lepromatosis discovery, leprosy bacilli evolution, and human evolution, it is most likely that the leprosy bacilli started parasitic evolution in humans or early hominids millions of years ago. This makes leprosy the oldest human-specific infection. The unique adaptive evolution has likely molded the indolent growth and evasion from human immune defense that may explain leprosy pathogenesis. Accordingly, leprosy can be viewed as a natural consequence of a long parasitism. The burden of leprosy may have affected minor selection on human genetic polymorphisms. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 8 2 e2544 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Xiang Y Han Francisco J Silva On the age of leprosy. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin and nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the newly discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Human leprosy has been documented for millennia in ancient cultures. Recent genomic studies of worldwide M. leprae strains have further traced it along global human dispersals during the past ∼ 100,000 years. Because leprosy bacilli are strictly intracellular, we wonder how long humans have been affected by this disease-causing parasite. Based on recently published data on M. leprae genomes, M. lepromatosis discovery, leprosy bacilli evolution, and human evolution, it is most likely that the leprosy bacilli started parasitic evolution in humans or early hominids millions of years ago. This makes leprosy the oldest human-specific infection. The unique adaptive evolution has likely molded the indolent growth and evasion from human immune defense that may explain leprosy pathogenesis. Accordingly, leprosy can be viewed as a natural consequence of a long parasitism. The burden of leprosy may have affected minor selection on human genetic polymorphisms. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Xiang Y Han Francisco J Silva |
author_facet |
Xiang Y Han Francisco J Silva |
author_sort |
Xiang Y Han |
title |
On the age of leprosy. |
title_short |
On the age of leprosy. |
title_full |
On the age of leprosy. |
title_fullStr |
On the age of leprosy. |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the age of leprosy. |
title_sort |
on the age of leprosy. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 https://doaj.org/article/682d170b5b73423caf9cb49e60bd67ab |
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Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
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Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 8, Iss 2, p e2544 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3923669?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 https://doaj.org/article/682d170b5b73423caf9cb49e60bd67ab |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002544 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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8 |
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2 |
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e2544 |
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