Mitochondrial analysis of a Byzantine population reveals the differential impact of multiple historical events in South Anatolia

The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in Southwest Turkey, in the western part of the Taurus mountain range. Human occupation of its territory is attested from the late 12th millennium BP up to the 13th century AD. By analysing the mtDNA variation in 85 skeletons from Sagalassos dated to the 11th-13th century AD, this study attempts to reconstruct the genetic signature potentially left in this region of Anatolia by the many civilizations, which succeeded one another over the centuries until the mid-Byzantine period (13th century BC). Authentic ancient DNA data were determined from the control region and some SNPs in the coding region of the mtDNA in 53 individuals. Comparative analyses with up to 157 modern populations allowed us to reconstruct the origin of the mid-Byzantine people still dwelling in dispersed hamlets in Sagalassos, and to detect the maternal contribution of their potential ancestors. By integrating the genetic data with historical and archaeological information, we were able to attest in Sagalassos a significant maternal genetic signature of Balkan/Greek populations, as well as ancient Persians and populations from the Italian peninsula. Some contribution from the Levant has been also detected, whereas no contribution from Central Asian population could be ascertained.     

The frequency of metopism in Anatolian populations dated from the Neolithic to the first quarter of the 20th century

Metopism, which is defined as a condition in which the two pieces of the frontal bone fail to merge in early childhood, displays varying degrees of incidence. In this study, the variation of the frequency of metopism across historical periods is investigated on the skulls of 487 adults from 12 different Ancient Anatolian populations dated to various periods of history ranging from the Neolithic to the first quarter of the 20th century. In addition, the study also examines the relationship of metopism to sex and cranial form. It is revealed that the frequency of metopism showed a relative increase across time periods in Anatolia after the Neolithic Period, with the exception of the Cevizcio?lu Çiftli?i population. However, no significant relationship was found between metopism and cranial form or sex. It is found that the frequency of metopism in Ancient Anatolia had a distribution range of 3.3–14.9%. This distribution shows that the inhabitants of Anatolia have a heterogeneous genetic make‐up due to the geographical situation of Anatolia, which has been open to gene flow both in the past and at present. Clin. Anat. 21:471–478, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Observations on the 1348 plague epidemic. Measures taken to combat its tragic effects and avoid epidemic recrudescence

When the "Black Death" swept through Europe from southern France in 1348, in the short space of two years the Europeans were hit by one of the most serious epidemics ever recorded in human history. Yersinia pestis reached Europe by sea, its contamination propagated by the Genoese ships coming from the Crimean port of Jaffa. For the first time the world experienced microbiological unification: East and West were equally involved in the tragedy that spread, and no town remained unscathed during the various epidemic waves which succeeded one another in the following three centuries. The authors of this article describe how and why the epidemic spread, as well as the factors that led to the swift, and often fatal, involment of millions of Europeans. The second part of the article deals with the measures taken by the healthcare authorities of European towns and countries in order to halt the proliferation of the disease. According to the data and observations by authoritative authors, selected among the many who studied the disease that from the 14th century spread like a scourge throughout the known world at the time, the epidemic could have been even more serious, in terms of mortality and morbidity, without the disciplinary and provisional health measures taken. The experience gained in Italy and all over Europe at the time proved useful not only to better manage the epidemics which cyclically broke out, but also to efficiently combat the cholera epidemics of the 19th century. With the 14th century plague epidemic, the Europeans and their political and administrative representatives may well have realized for the very first time that contamination could be combatted by adopting a set of rational, scientific norms - although in practice such rules were mostly inspired by misguided scientific theories. Humankind was no longer alone. A new society was emerging, one that was not going to passively accept the more or less mysterious ways of a superior being of fate. The Italian and German city-states, the emerging nations (France, England, Austria, Spain, Holland) developed and adopted procedures to control the epidemic - at the first on an ad hoc basis, then permanently. Sometimes success was achieved but always at a high price on the part of the individual and the local community. The path to an epidemic-free existence for humankind was still a long one.     

Skrljevo disease: between myth and reality

At the end of the 18th century, an epidemic of allegedly unknown disease characterized by inconsistent symptoms broke up in Istria, Croatia. The disease was called Skrljevo disease after the village Skrljevo, near Rijeka, where it first emerged. We critically evaluated archive material, books, and papers on this disease published during the last 200 years. According to these records, the "illness" spread quite rapidly, affecting around 13000 people at its peak around the mid-19th century. Dozens of papers, books, and dissertations were written, trying to elucidate the nature and cause of the "epidemic." By the end of the 19th century, the "disease" had mostly disappeared, but the questions it had raised did not. We believe that this "disease" was not a real epidemic, but actually the rise (and fall) of a "fashionable diagnosis". We recognized certain similarities in ethical and popular aspects between the story of the Skrljevo disease and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.     

Involvement of activated periglomerular leukocytes in the rupture of Bowman's capsule and glomerular crescent progression in experimental glomerulonephritis.

BACKGROUND: In an experimental model of crescentic glomerulonephritis, we have investigated whether periglomerular leukocytes are involved in (a), the disruption of Bowman's capsule (BC), and (b) the progression of cellular crescents. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Experimental crescentic glomerulonephritis was induced in inbred Sprague-Dawley rats using passive accelerated anti-glomerular basement membrane disease. Groups of 4 animals were sacrificed at 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after administration of nephrotoxic serum. RESULTS: Periglomerular infiltration of macrophages and T cells was evident at day 3, although focal accumulation of activated mononuclear cells (IL-2R+) was not apparent in this area until day 14. BC rupture in some glomeruli was first evident at day 14, and this was seen in all 12 animals from days 14 to 28. Similarly, glomerular crescent formation was first apparent at day 14, and from days 14 to 28, 11 of 12 animals displayed crescent formation (25 to 74% crescentic glomeruli). Examination of glomeruli (> or = 200/animal) within periodic acid-Shiff stained sections found that BC disruption invariably occurred at sites of prominent focal periglomerular mononuclear cell infiltration. Monoclonal antibody labeling revealed that T cells and IL-2R+ cells were restricted to focal infiltrates at sites of BC rupture, whereas macrophages were more widely distributed throughout the periglomerular area. A key finding was that while BC disruption occurred in both the presence and the absence of crescent formation, it was always associated with prominent periglomerular leukocytic infiltration. In this model, most cellular crescents contained leukocytes (88.8 +/- 2.1%). In the presence of an intact BC, macrophages constituted the predominant leukocyte cell type within these crescents. However, when BC was ruptured, although the number of macrophages remained unchanged, a marked accumulation of both T cells and IL-2R+ cells occurred within crescents. Progressive fibrous organization of cellular crescents was observed only in those glomeruli in which BC was disrupted. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that: (a) activated periglomerular mononuclear cells may cause disruption of BC via a delayed-type hypersensitivity mechanism, (b) rupture of BC facilitates entry of activated periglomerular T cells and fibroblasts into Bowman's space leading to progressive fibrous organization of cellular crescents, and (c) disruption of BC may be a general mechanism of progressive glomerular damage mediated by periglomerular leukocytes irrespective of crescent formation.     

Tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries: epidemiology and the role of urban health programmes in tuberculosis prevention in Bologna

The author reports the scenario in which the bacteriological revolution arose and developed during the 19th century. In this period medical research improved its theoretical basis and clinical practice, and aimed at becoming an exact science. Scientific discoveries in the field of microbiology and growing social and sanitary awareness conferred a very particular specificity on tubercular disease: this pathology was defined a work-induced infectious disease, as L. Devoto stated at the beginning of the twentieth century. After introductory statements, we present statistical and epidemiological research carried out in the 19th century among populations of workers, and studies that show the relationship between the diffusion of the tuberculosis epidemic and the high concentration of people in degraded urban areas. We also present statistics on tuberculosis mortality in the Kingdom of Italy, the region of Emilia Romagna, and in Bologna. Finally, we briefly describe the urban improvement measures performed in the Bologna area after the unification of Italy (1860), which allowed contagion to be reduced, as well as both the mortality and morbidity rate in this urban area.     

A century of typhus, lice and Rickettsia

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was discovered at the Pasteur Institute in Tunis that epidemic typhus is transmitted by the human body louse. The complete genome sequence of its causative agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, was determined at Uppsala University in Sweden at the end of the century. In this mini-review, we discuss insights gained from the genome sequence of this fascinating and deadly organism.     

First attempts at smallpox engrafting (variolation) in the18th-century in Bologna

In Bologna in the mid 18th century some brilliant doctors were among the first in Italy to carry out smallpox engrafting (variolation), obtaining interesting results. Academics and Scientific Establishment censured the activities of these experimenters, such that one of them had to continue his work in Padova, where he went to teach and continued the practice of variolation. However, Bologna's Curia pronounced a positive theological judgement on such experiments. Forty years later, in 1801, Bologna's Senate called upon Luigi Sacco to organize campaigns to vaccinate and thereby smallpox infection. Bologna had been scourged by a new epidemic that year. What happened in Bologna during the 18th century regarding scientific research reflected the demographic, economic and political situation that the city was experiencing. This trend was to come to an end only with the unification of Italy.     

Specific and nonspecific indicators of activation of influenza viruses before an epidemic caused by influenza viruses subtype A/H3N2 and type B in Czechoslovakia in 1986

The authors submit an aetiological and epidemiological analysis of the influenza epidemic which occurred in the CSR between the 4th and 14th week of 1986 and was caused by the influenza virus subtype A/H3N2/ and type B. The epidemic affected a total of 27.1% of the population, in the age group of 0-5 years 63.7%, in the age group 6-14 years 52.7% and in the age group above 15 years 17.1%. In the course of the epidemic 77,458 cases of pneumonia and bronchitis were reported and 1,412 deaths with the diagnosis influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia and chronic affection of the lungs. The authors analyze also specific indicators of the activation of influenza viruses and reach the conclusion that serological evidence of the circulation of influenza viruses in the population was detected already in the third quarter of 1985, the first isolations were made six weeks before the influenza epidemic. Activation of the influenza viruses is indicated already during the pre-epidemic period by some non-specific indicators which include the rising number of patients with acute respiratory affections in surgeries and the rising number of children absent from nurseries and nursery schools on account of these diseases. The most sensitive non-specific indicator is the rising number of patients with respiratory diseases in surgeries of the First aid medical service.     

Morphogenic fields: A coming of age

Morphogenesis, the coming-into-being of living organisms, was first described in the 4th century BC by Aristotle, progenitor of biology and embryology. Over the centuries it has been the subject of innumerable commentaries by philosophers, theologians and scientists but no consensus has ever been reached as to its causes. In the late 19th century, along with the emergence of cellular and molecular biology, embryology underwent a renaissance and became a topic of great interest and research. Early on the discipline divided into two opposing factions, those who attempted to explain fetal development on the basis of cellular and molecular mechanisms, and those who invoked the presence of organizing fields. The morphogenic field was first articulated in the early decades of the 20th century by multiple researchers independently of each other. The field became an extremely useful conceptual tool by which to explain a wide range of developmental phenomena. While embryology and genetics originally formed a unified discipline, during the 1930s and 1940s geneticists became progressively skeptical of the field notion. The discovery of the DNA structure by Watson and Crick in the early 1950s decisively settled matters and thereafter the two disciplines pursued different lines of inquiry. After World War II embryology and the field concept went into a decades-long decline. By the 1980s an increasing number of scientists began to critically reexamine the morphogenic field concept and it underwent a second renaissance. In this paper I examine the development and evolution of the field concept, both experimentally and conceptually, and highlight the failure of genetic mechanisms to explain morphogenesis. I provide three instances from the medical literature of developmental phenomena which are only explainable on the basis of morphogenic field dynamics and argue that the field concept must be readmitted into mainstream scientific discourse.     

A Glimpse into the process of gaining permission for the educational dissection of human cadavers in the Ottoman empire

Dissection of the human body for educational purposes became officially permitted in the Ottoman Empire only after a long, difficult process. In the West, studies based on the findings of Galen had been taboo during a long period in which dissection of human bodies had been prohibited. Although the first dissection studies since ancient times began to appear in the Western literature in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the post‐Galen taboo against dissection was broken only in the 16th century by the studies of Vesalius. However, in the Eastern World, it was only fairly recently that the idea of the “sanctity of the human body” could be challenged. In the medieval Islamic world, as during the Middle Ages in the West, prohibitions against the dissection of human cadavers continued for social and religious reasons, although the Koran does not specifically ban such dissection. This prohibition also continued through the Ottoman era, which began in the 14th century. The first efforts to end the prohibition on dissection in the Ottoman Empire were made at the beginning of the 19th century during the reign of Sultan Selim III but official permission for dissection was given only in 1841 during the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid. Educational dissections in the Ottoman Empire officially began at the Istanbul Medical School following the granting of this permission. This article will discuss the attempts to end the prohibition of dissection in Ottomans within the scope of the history of anatomical study in Turkey. Clin. Anat. 27:964–971, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Quinine prophylaxis in the early 20th century in malaria -affected Bologna

The authors outline public health and environmental conditions in Italy at the end of the 19th century and the attempts made at improvement in this field. Details of health investigations carried out within the framework of the emerging State Railways are given, together with information on studies in the health and social sectors. Such investigations showed a constant connection between wetlands, malaria, and social and economic decline. Far from improving public health, political and economic policies to consolidate the nation had compounded the existing critical situation and led to a deterioration of public health and living conditions of those who, like seasonal labourers, shepherds and fishermen, lived in malarial areas. With the laws passed from 1878 onwards and especially those at the beginning of the 20th century, attempts were made - with little success - to reverse the trend with a series of palliative measures. By contrast, outside the city gates of Bologna, where malaria epidemics had occurred between 1899 and 1901, wetland drainage, treatment of the sick and prophylaxis of healthy subjects, through the provision of quinine, achieved good results. The authors attribute such success to the fact that the population of Bologna had not become inured to the "malarial climate" which made people passive and abulic, and thus collaborated with the local administration by supporting drainage measures. The area of Bologna affected by the epidemic experienced little environmental deterioration, thereby few well-targeted measures sufficed to eradicate the epidemic.     

Traditional toxicity documentation of Chinese Materia Medica--an overview

Documentation of Chinese materia medica (CMM) dates back to around 1,100 BC when only dozens of drugs were first described. By the end of the 16th century, the number of drugs documented had reached close to 1,900. And by the end of the last century, published records of CMM have reached 12,800 drugs. The recorded traditional information includes toxicities, incompatibilities, cautions, precautions and contraindications. Thus, contrary to a general misconception, toxicity data on Chinese herbs exist and are not meager. If consulted properly before embarking on a study of CMM, it will save researchers much time and efforts and the frustration of not obtaining consistent or expected results. The history of documentation is reviewed with examples of major classic and contemporary works highlighting and emphasizing the manner in which CMM toxicities have traditionally been documented through clinical experience as opposed to most modern toxicity data that are based on animal experimentation.     

Skin and sensibility: the story of bullae on the human surface

This review presents a concise delineation of the historical roots of nomenclature and first reports of entities recognized today as immunoblistering dermatoses. The scope of the perspective of terminology is the time from Hippocrates BC to past mid-twentieth century AD, and pemphigus is the core of the matter. Researchers in this field may find these important historic facts interesting and useful as a quick reference.     

In search of the origins of modern surgical pathology

Pathology is a relatively new specialty in the history of medicine and borrows much from the clinical and basic sciences. The clinicopathologic correlation began with deceased (autopsy) and was later extended to the living (surgical pathology). Although the roots of surgical pathology began during the first half of the 19th century, this distinctive specialty evolved through many subsequent technical and scientific discoveries. This historical review will trace the advances in microscopy, histochemistry, and surgery in the later half of the 19th century and early 20th century that led to the development of modern surgical pathology.     

From Galvani to patch clamp: the development of electrophysiology

The development of electrophysiology is traced from the early beginnings represented by the work of the Dutch microscopist, Jan Swammerdam, in the 17th century through the first notion of an aqueous transmembrane pore as a substrate of excitability made by Luigi Galvani in late 18th century to the invention late in the 20th century of the patch-clamp technique by Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann.     

Reconstruction of the epidemic history of the Beijing genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Russia and former soviet countries using spoligotyping

All known genotypes (3925 spoligoprofiles of M. tuberculosis) were selected using the SITVIT database in nine countries, including countries of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Japan, and Vietnam. The programs SpolTools and DESTUS were used to construct consensus networks to identify the epidemic genotypes of M. tuberculosis in the studied countries. In Russia, Latvia, and Estonia, the Beijing strain was determined as the main epidemic genotype. In Finland, Poland, Portugal, and Italy, all epidemic genotypes belonged to other families. The hypothesis on the explosive nature of the spreading of the Beijing genotype of M. tuberculosis was put forward for Russia and other former Soviet countries in the 20th century. The basic idea of the hypothesis was that the pattern of dissemination of the Beijing genotype occurred at the CER (Chinese Eastern Railway), in the Gulag, and in the civilian society of Soviet Union. The Beijing genotype of M. tuberculosis affected Russian builders of the CER during the end the 19th and early 20th centuries. With the repression of CER builders in the Soviet Union, the Beijing genotype was spread among Gulag prisoners; after 1953, it had spread throughout the civilian society of the entire country. The distribution of epidemic genotypes of M. tuberculosis in the studied countries was interpreted as evidence of the suggested hypothesis.