Objective

We assessed whether Petrus Donders (died 1887), a Dutch priest who for 27 years cared for people with leprosy in the leprosarium Batavia, Suriname, had evidence of Mycobacterium (M.) leprae infection. A positive finding of M. leprae ancient (a)DNA would contribute to the origin of leprosy in Suriname.

Materials

Skeletal remains of Father Petrus Donders; two additional skeletons excavated from the Batavia cemetery were used as controls.

Methods

Archival research, paleopathological evaluation and aDNA-based testing of skeletal remains.

Results

Neither archives nor inspection of Donders skeletal remains revealed evidence of leprosy, and aDNA-based testing for M. leprae was negative. We detected M. leprae aDNA by RLEP PCR in one control skeleton, which also displayed pathological lesions compatible with leprosy. The M. leprae aDNA was genotyped by Sanger sequencing as SNP type 4; the skeleton displayed mitochondrial haplogroup L3.

Conclusion

We found no evidence that Donders contracted leprosy despite years of intense leprosy contact, but we successfully isolated an archaeological M. leprae aDNA sample from a control skeleton from South America.

Significance

We successfully genotyped recovered aDNA to a M. leprae strain that likely originated in West Africa. The detected human mitochondrial haplogroup L3 is also associated with this geographical region. This suggests that slave trade contributed to leprosy in Suriname.

Limitations

A limited number of skeletons was examined.

Suggestions for further research

Broader review of skeletal collections is advised to expand on diversity of the M. leprae aDNA database.

中文翻译：

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苏里南麻风病“巴达维亚”麻风病研究中的档案，古病理学和基于aDNA的技术以及Petrus Donders父亲的案例。

目的

我们评估了在苏里南巴达维亚麻风病医院照顾了麻风病患者长达27年的荷兰牧师Petrus Donders（卒于1887年）是否有分枝杆菌麻风的证据。麻风分枝杆菌古代（a）DNA的阳性发现将有助于苏里南麻风病的起源。

用料

彼得鲁斯·唐德斯神父的遗骸；从巴达维亚（Batavia）公墓挖掘出的另外两个骨骼被用作对照。

方法

档案研究，古病理学评估和基于aDNA的骨骼遗骸测试。

结果

档案和对Donders骨骼遗骸的检查都没有发现麻风的证据，并且基于DNA的麻风分支杆菌检测为阴性。我们通过RLEP PCR在一个对照骨骼中检测到了麻风杆菌aDNA，它也显示出与麻风病相容的病理病变。通过桑格测序将麻风分枝杆菌aDNA基因型定为SNP 4型。骨骼显示线粒体单倍体L3。

结论

我们发现没有证据表明尽管多年的麻风病密切接触，唐德斯仍染上了麻风病，但我们成功地从南美的一个对照骨骼中分离出了考古学的麻风分枝杆菌aDNA样本。

意义

我们成功地将回收的aDNA基因分型为可能起源于西非的麻风杆菌菌株。检测到的人线粒体单倍群L3也与此地理区域相关联。这表明奴隶贸易促成了苏里南的麻风病。

局限性

检查了有限数量的骨骼。

进一步研究的建议

建议更广泛地审查骨骼集合，以扩大麻风分枝杆菌aDNA数据库的多样性。