01937nas a2200397   4500000000100000008004100001100001900042700001300061700001300074700001400087700001600101700001400117700001400131700001400145700001300159700001100172700001200183700001200195700001700207700001500224700001300239700001300252700001300265700001400278700001600292700001600308700001400324700001100338700001200349245009000361856005800451300000900509490000600518520100100524022001401525       2018                            d1 aKrause-Kyora B1 aNutsua M1 aBoehme L1 aPierini F1 aPedersen DD1 aKornell S1 aDrichel D1 aBonazzi M1 aMöbus L1 aTarp P1 aSusat J1 aBosse E1 aWillburger B1 aSchmidt AH1 aSauter J1 aFranke A1 aWittig M1 aCaliebe A1 aNothnagel M1 aSchreiber S1 aBoldsen J1 aLenz T1 aNebel A00aAncient DNA study reveals HLA susceptibility locus for leprosy in medieval Europeans.  uhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03857-x.pdf  a15690 v93 a<p>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.</p>
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