Ramirez Darío A, Sitter T Lesley, Översti Sanni, Herrera-Soto María José, Pastor Nicolás, Fontana-Silva Oscar Eduardo, Kirkpatrick Casey L, Castelleti-Dellepiane José, Nores Rodrigo, Bos Kirsten I
Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba CONICET-UNC, Museo de Antropologías, Departamento de Antropología, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2025 Jun 30. doi: 10.1038/s41559-025-02771-y.
Mycobacterium lepromatosis is a recently identified cause of Hansen's disease, and is associated with the more severe and potentially lethal presentations of diffuse lepromatous leprosy and Lucio's phenomenon. Detection of this infection has been limited to a small number of individuals, leaving much to be learned about its global distribution and transmissibility. Its discovery in wild rodent populations in the United Kingdom and Ireland also raises questions about its zoonotic potential. Here, we raise further awareness of this disease via analyses of two exceptionally well preserved M. lepromatosis genomes obtained from 4,000-year-old human remains of two adult males from the archaeological sites of El Cerrito and La Herradura in Northern Chile. This formed the basis of genomic comparisons between ancient and modern forms of the pathogen. We demonstrate an unexpected long history of M. lepromatosis in the Americas, which contrasts with the more recent Eurasian history of the closely related Mycobacterium leprae. We offer relevant perspectives on its evolution while providing an incentive for further disease monitoring in both humans and other potential reservoir species in the Americas and elsewhere.
利氏麻风杆菌是最近才被确认的麻风病病因，与弥漫性瘤型麻风及卢西奥现象的更严重且可能致命的表现相关。对这种感染的检测仅限于少数个体，关于其全球分布和传播性仍有许多有待了解之处。它在英国和爱尔兰的野生啮齿动物种群中的发现也引发了关于其人畜共患病潜力 的问题。在此，我们通过分析从智利北部埃尔塞里托和拉埃拉杜拉考古遗址的两名成年男性的4000年前人类遗骸中获得的两个保存异常完好的利氏麻风杆菌基因组，进一步提高对这种疾病的认识。这构成了该病原体古代和现代形式之间基因组比较的基础。我们证明了利氏麻风杆菌在美洲有着意想不到的悠久历史，这与密切相关的麻风分枝杆菌在欧亚大陆较近的历史形成对比。我们提供了关于其进化的相关观点，同时激励在美洲和其他地区对人类和其他潜在宿主物种进行进一步的疾病监测。
