Tutankhamen killed by sickle-cell disease

[wysingm]

Source: New Scientist

King Tutankhamen, Egypt's boy king, was killed by the inherited blood disorder sickle-cell disease – not malaria. So says a German team in what appears to be the best shot yet at solving the mystery of the pharaoh's early demise.

From falling off a chariot to murder by poison, the cause of Tutankhamen's death has been a source of avid speculation since his mummified youthful remains were discovered in 1922. He was 19 when he died around 1324 BC after ruling for just nine years.

The first extensive scientific investigation of the mummy was reported by Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass and colleagues earlier this year (JAMA, vol 303, p 638). After running a battery of tests, including X-rays and genetic analysis, they concluded that an inherited bone disorder weakened the king, before an attack of malaria finished him off.

Key pieces of evidence were severe necrosis in the bones of Tutankhamen's left foot, and the detection of genes from Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria.

But in a letter to Journal of the American Medical Association this week, Christian Timmann and Christian Meyer of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany, suggest that Hawass's observations can be explained much more elegantly by a diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD).

"The radiological signs are compatible with osteopathologic lesions seen in sickle cell disease (SCD), a hematological disorder that occurs at gene carrier rates of nine percent to 22 percent in inhabitants of Egyptian oases." (Source)

[zarahan]

Very interesting Myra- the plot thickens. A lot of these diseases/disorders are also found further south in the continent..

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Some disease pathogens such as malaria found in ancient DNA (aDNA) seem to point to Nile Valley- Nubian- East African- Sub-Saharan links. For example, the presence of the L. donovani pathogen in Egypt implies trade or population contacts with other African regions since the vector for spreading this pathogen (a particular biting African sandfly) is absent in Nile Valley. Well documented cranial, limb proportion and cultural linkages between ancient Egyptian and other indigenous tropical African populations suggests that the ancient DNA is another indicator of a long standing pattern of such links as well.

quote- bold headings added for clarity:

[Malaria:] "Several attempts were made to identify the DNA of Plasmodium falciparum in the human
remains, one of the parasites responsible for malaria. Rabino Massa et al. (2000) used immunological
tests to screen 80 mummies from the site of Gebelen near Luxor, Egypt dated
to 3200 BCE. Th e Plasmodium antigen (histidine-rich protein PfHRP-2) was found in 43%
of samples (and in 92% of samples with porotic hyperostosis). Such a high frequency of cases
caused doubts concerning the specifi city of the antigen based test (Nerlich et al. 2008).

A positive Plasmodium identifi cation via immunological methods was also reported for a Granville 50 Mateusz Baca, Martyna Molak mummy—a 50 year old woman from the site of Gurna, Egypt dated to 700 BCE (Miller et al. 1994). Reexamination of this specimen using PCR-based methods yielded negative results.
Th ese results could be due to the diff erential preservation of DNA and proteins in
this individual, but serious doubt concerning the reliability of the immunological test arose
(Taylor et al. 1997). A recent survey of Nerlich et al. (2008) yielded more realistic results. 91
specimens were screened for Plasmodium DNA, 7 from the Predynastic to Early Dynastic site
of Abydos (3500–2800 BCE), 42 from a Middle Kingdom tomb in Th ebes West (2050–1650
BCE), and 42 from other tombs also from Th ebes West, dated from the Middle Kingdom
until the Late Period. PCR of a fragment of a pfcrt gene (P. falciparum chloroquine-resistance
transporter gene) was attempted and resulted in two positive amplifi cations. Th e specifi -
city of the obtained PCR products was confi rmed by carrying out the sequencing in two
independent laboratories.


[Diptheria:] Zink et al. (2001c) screened 450 individuals from Th ebes West searching for Corynebacterium
diphtheriae, the pathogenic bacteria responsible for diphtheria. Of the 40 samples that
yielded amplifi able DNA, one positive PCR result was obtained with starters targeting eubacterial
16S rDNA. Th e presence of Corynebacterium spp. DNA was confi rmed in only
one specimen, the head of a woman buried in Dra Abu el Nega (Th ebes West) dated to
1580–1080 BCE. A specifi c identifi cation of Corynebacterium diphtheriae species was not possible.
However, in conjunction with inscriptions found in the tomb describing the treatment
of a disease bearing resemblance to diphtheria, the presence of C. diphtheriae seems likely.
Th e presence of Corynebacterium diphtheriae in the ancient mummy was not surprising, since
diphtheria is common even in contemporary Egypt.


[Leishmaniasis:] Another parasite detected in human remains via aDNA analysis is the Leishmania donovani
complex; the parasite causing leishmaniasis. Zink et al. (2006) searched for L. donovani DNA in
91 bone samples from the above-mentioned Egyptian sites of Th ebes West and Abydos and in
70 samples from Nubian sites at Kulubnarti, Sudan. Th ese sites were early Christian cemeteries
dated from 550 to 750 CE and from 750 to 1500 CE. DNA sequences specifi c to Leishmania spp.
were PCR amplifi ed from 4 Egyptian and 9 Nubian samples. Based on frequencies of bacterial
presence, the authors conclude that leishmaniasis was endemic in Nubia during the 6th–8th centuries
CE. An examination of earlier samples would most likely have led to similar results since
Sudan (or East Africa in general) is considered as a place of origin of visceral leishmaniasis (Zink
et al. 2006). As all the Egyptian samples containing L. donovani DNA came exclusively from
a Middle Kingdom tomb and no samples from earlier periods yielded bacteria-positive results,
the authors suggest that the introduction of leishmaniasis to Egypt may have taken place during
the Middle Kingdom.

Th e presence of L. donovani in Egypt implies close trade contacts
between these countries as the distribution of L. donovani is closely associated with its vector
the phlebotomine sandfl y, which is absent in Nile Valley.
Zink et al. (2000) described a single case of bacteremia discovered when an infant mummy
from the Th ebes West cemetery was studied. Th e mummy was dated to 1000–750 BCE.
Genetic analysis revealed the presence of the DNA of several bacterial species, including Escherichia
coli, Frateuria auranta, and Halobacillus spp. Post mortem spread of E. coli through the
body was ruled out."


From:
--Bioarchaeology of the Near East, 2:39–61 (2008)
Research on ancient DNA in the Near East
Mateusz Baca*1, Martyna Molak2