A 2,000-year-old specimen with intraerythrocytic Bartonella quintana.

ABSTRACT: Photogrammetry and cascading microscopy investigations of dental pulp specimens collected from 2,000-year-old individuals buried in a Roman necropolis in Besançon, France, revealed unprecedented preserved tissular and cellular morphology. Photogrammetry yielded 3-D images of the smallest archaeological human remains ever recovered. Optical microscopy examinations after standard haematoxylin-phloxine-saffron staining and anti-glycophorin A immunohistochemistry exposed dental pulp cells, in addition erythrocytes were visualised by electron microscopy, which indicated the ancient dental pulp trapped a blood drop. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation applied on red blood cells revealed the louse-borne pathogen Bartonella quintana, a finding confirmed by polymerase chain reaction assays. Through

SUBMITTER: Barbieri R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7308320 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature