01875nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001600065653001000081653004000091653001100131653001100142653002500153653000900178653001600187653002600203653002100229653002500250653002600275100001400301700001500315245018300330300001000513490000700523520102900530022001401559       2011                            d  c2011 Oct10aAdult10aArchaeology10aChild10aEuropean Continental Ancestry Group10aFemale10aHumans10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMinisatellite Repeats10aMolecular Typing10aMycobacterium leprae10aPolymorphism, Genetic1 aTaylor MG1 aDonoghue H00aMultiple loci variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) of Mycobacterium leprae isolates amplified from European archaeological human remains with lepromatous leprosy.  a923-90 v133 a<p>Molecular typing methods based on polymorphisms in single nucleotides and short tandem repeat motifs have been developed as epidemiological typing tools for Mycobacterium leprae. We have used a variable number tandem repeat method based on three variable loci to identify strain variation in archaeological cases of lepromatous leprosy. The panel of polymorphic loci used revealed unique profiles in five cases of leprosy, including those with identical SNP type and subtype. These were also different from profiles of three previously studied lepromatous skeletons. Whilst examination with SNP typing provides evidence for disease origins, dissemination and phylogeny, tandem repeat typing may be useful for studying cases from within a defined area or community where SNP types may be identical due to geographical constraints. We envisage the technique may be useful in studying contemporaneous burials such as those associated with leprosaria and will prove invaluable in authentication of ancient DNA analyses.</p>
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