Objective

This paper aims at investigating the possible existence of isotopic offsets in δ¹³C_col and δ¹⁵N_col values in relation to tertiary syphilis.

Material

Based on materials from the 19th c. A.D. deriving from the pathological-anatomical reference collection (the Jedlička collection) of the National Museum in Prague (Czech Republic), a comparative approach of ten individuals with syphilis and nine without the disease was undertaken.

Methods

Bone powder samples were defatted according to the protocol of Liden et al. (1995). Bone collagen was extracted following the protocol of Bocherens et al. (1991).

Results

Our results show that individuals with syphilis have lower δ¹³C_col values than individuals without the disease; the observed difference between the two groups is about 0.3-0.4‰, which is relatively small but still meaningful. However, no difference between δ¹⁵N_col values of the two groups has been noticed.

Conclusions

Either diets prescribed by physicians to syphilitic patients or nutritional stress caused by cyclic appetite disturbance due to the disease itself or the administered medical treatment appeared to be possible explanations of the observed isotopic pattern. Overall, the response of the two isotopic proxies could argue for relatively limited nutritional restrictions.

Significance

This is the first study examining bone collagen isotopic response to syphilis based on clinically documented human skeletal materials.

Limitations

The sample sizes are relatively small and cautiousness must be taken regarding the interpretations of the data.

Suggestions for further research

Compound-specific stable isotope investigations and analysis of mercury content could be helpful to better understand the observed isotopic effects.

中文翻译：

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梅毒患者的同位素案例研究，来自布拉格国家博物馆（捷克共和国，公元19世纪）的病理解剖学参考文献。

目的

本文旨在调查同位素偏移的可能存在的δ ¹³ C ^ _COL和δ ^15个Ñ _COL相对于第三梅毒值。

材料

根据19世纪c的资料。AD取材于布拉格（捷克共和国）国家博物馆的病理解剖学参考文献（Jedlička文献），比较了10名梅毒患者和9名梅毒患者的比较方法。

方法

骨粉样品按照Liden等人的方法脱脂。（1995）。按照Bocherens等人的方案提取骨胶原。（1991）。

结果

我们的研究结果表明，与梅毒的个体具有较低δ ^13个C ^_山坳比没有疾病的个体价值; 两组之间观察到的差异约为0.3-0.4‰，虽然相对较小，但仍然有意义。然而，没有什么区别δ ^15个Ñ _COL两组值已被注意到。

结论

医师对梅毒患者的饮食习惯或由于疾病本身引起的食欲不振或所给予的药物治疗所引起的营养压力似乎都是观察到的同位素模式的可能解释。总体而言，两个同位素代理的反应可能表明营养限制相对有限。

意义

这是基于临床证明的人类骨骼材料检查骨胶原对梅毒的同位素反应的第一项研究。

局限性

样本量相对较小，在解释数据时必须谨慎。

进一步研究的建议

化合物特定的稳定同位素研究和汞含量分析可能有助于更好地了解观察到的同位素效应。