Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Basel Academy for Quality and Research in Medicine, Basel, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 9;17(9):e0267336. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267336. eCollection 2022.
There is evidence from previous studies that pregnancies and diseases are recorded in the tooth cementum. This study aims to assess the degree of concordance between signals based on irregular incremental lines (ILs) and reported pregnancies.
23 recent and 24 archaeological human teeth with known birth history were included in this investigation. 129 histological sections of tooth roots were assessed for irregularities in appearance and width using a standardized protocol. Similarity of observed irregularities at the section level allowed us to define signals at the tooth level. The sensitivity of signals to detect pregnancies was determined and related to the signal prevalence.
Pregnancy signals were frequently visually observed. However, applying a standardized process we could only reach signal sensitivities to identify pregnancies up to 20 percentage points above chance level.
Based on a standardized and reproducible method it could be confirmed that some pregnancies leave visible signals in the tooth cementum. The results show the potential of the tooth cementum to support reconstruction of life courses in paleopathology. However, it seems that not all pregnancies affect the cementogenesis in such a way that irregular ILs are identifiable. Further research is needed to better understand which type of pregnancies and other conditions are recorded in the tooth cementum.
先前的研究已经证明,牙齿的牙骨质中记录了妊娠和疾病的信息。本研究旨在评估基于不规则增龄线(ILs)的信号与报告妊娠之间的符合程度。
本研究纳入了 23 颗近期和 24 颗考古人类牙齿,这些牙齿均具有已知的出生史。使用标准化方案评估了 129 个牙根组织学切片中外观和宽度不规则的情况。在切片水平上观察到的不规则性的相似性允许我们在牙齿水平上定义信号。确定了信号检测妊娠的敏感性,并将其与信号的流行率相关联。
妊娠信号经常可以通过肉眼观察到。然而,应用标准化的流程,我们只能将信号的敏感性提高到比机会水平高出 20 个百分点,以识别妊娠。
基于标准化和可重复的方法,可以证实一些妊娠会在牙骨质中留下可见的信号。结果表明,牙骨质具有支持古病理学中重建生命历程的潜力。然而,似乎并非所有妊娠都会以可识别不规则 IL 的方式影响牙骨质形成。需要进一步的研究来更好地理解哪些类型的妊娠和其他情况会被记录在牙骨质中。