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Genotypic Make-Up of European Leprosy
Posted on 17 November 2009 by
The M leprae genome is extremely stable according to findings made by Claire Watson and Diana Lockwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
They used a novel approach to conduct molecular analysis of European M leprae DNA; they tested for the presence of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in
M leprae DNA collected from ancient bone samples from six medieval skeletons in Croatia, Denmark and the United Kingdom showing typical lepromatous leprosy lesions. They found that the SNPs were the same as those previously analysed.
These findings corroborate previously published data by Monot et al* that European M leprae strains fall into one group (SNP-type 3).
In addition, the findings of Claire Watson and Diana Lockwood demonstrate that archaeological M leprae can be analysed to gain detailed information about the genotypic make-up of European leprosy. This, in turn, may assist in furthering the understanding of leprosy in Europe and its transmission worldwide.
Claire Watson is a Research Fellow for the Department of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases, working with Professor Lockwood.
Diana Lockwood is Professor of Tropical Medicine at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases, where she heads a research team. She also provides a national referral service for leprosy patients in Great Britain, is editor of Leprosy Review and member of the ILEP Technical Commission.
Click on the following link to access this article Single Necleotide Polymorphism Analysis of European Archaeological M. leprae DNA published 22nd October 2009 in PLoS ONE: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007547
*On the Origin of Leprosy, Science (2005) 308: 1040-1042 in which Monot and his colleagues produced a map showing the transmission of leprosy across the world. They had used SNPs and suggested that leprosy originated in Africa and that it was spread to the rest of the world by migration.
Categories: Europe, Technical information