School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, 44 Linnaeus Way, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn, Ethnologie préhistorique, Maison René-Ginouvès, Archéologie et Ethnologie, 21 Allée de l'Université, 92023, Nanterre Cedex, France.
Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 17;11(1):3981. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83264-3.
Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia is one of the most obese nations where metabolic conditions, sedentary lifestyles, and poor quality diet are widespread. These factors can lead to poor musculoskeletal health. However, whether metabolic abnormalities such as osteoporosis occurred in archaeological populations of Tonga is unknown. We employed a microscopic investigation of femur samples to establish whether bone loss afflicted humans in this Pacific region approximately 3000 years ago. Histology, laser confocal microscopy, and synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy were used to measure bone vascular canal densities, bone porosity, and carbonate and phosphate content of bone composition in eight samples extracted from adult Talasiu males and females dated to 2650 BP. Compared to males, samples from females had fewer vascular canals, lower carbonate and phosphate content, and higher bone porosity. Although both sexes showed evidence of trabecularised cortical bone, it was more widespread in females (35.5%) than males (15.8%). Our data suggest experiences of advanced bone resorption, possibly as a result of osteoporosis. This provides first evidence for microscopic bone loss in a sample of archaeological humans from a Pacific population widely afflicted by metabolic conditions today.
位于波利尼西亚的汤加王国是肥胖率最高的国家之一，其代谢紊乱、久坐不动的生活方式和低质量的饮食非常普遍。这些因素可能导致肌肉骨骼健康状况不佳。然而，代谢异常（如骨质疏松症）是否发生在汤加的考古人群中尚不清楚。我们采用股骨样本的微观研究来确定大约 3000 年前这个太平洋地区的人类是否受到骨量流失的影响。组织学、激光共聚焦显微镜和同步辐射傅里叶变换红外微光谱学用于测量从成年 Talasiu 男性和女性中提取的 8 个样本的骨血管腔密度、骨孔隙率以及骨成分中的碳酸盐和磷酸盐含量，这些样本的年代可追溯到公元前 2650 年。与男性相比，女性样本的血管腔较少，碳酸盐和磷酸盐含量较低，骨孔隙率较高。尽管两性都有骨皮质小梁化的证据，但女性更为广泛（35.5%），而男性为（15.8%）。我们的数据表明存在严重的骨吸收现象，可能是骨质疏松症的结果。这为今天广泛受到代谢紊乱影响的太平洋人群的考古人类样本中出现微观骨丢失提供了首个证据。
