Palaeopoop From Neolithic Çatalhöyük Reveals Parasitic Infections - Forbes

---

Palaeopoop From Neolithic Çatalhöyük Reveals Parasitic Infections - Forbes Posted: 31 May 2019 06:32 AM PDT Left: Coprolite from Çatalhöyük. Right: Whipworm egg identified from a Çatalhöyük coprolite. Evilena Anastasiou / Antiquity Parasites have infected humans for millennia, but archaeologists have hypothesized that the frequency of infections increased as humans intensified their agricultural production of crops in the Neolithic period. A new analysis of coprolites from the site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey has contributed evidence towards confirming that hypothesis. Writing today in the journal Antiquity, an international group of researchers has provided the first solid evidence at the site of the parasite whipworm, whose eggs were discovered in a close analysis of remarkably preserved ancient feces. Marissa Ledger of the University of Cambridge, who is the first author on the paper, writes that "in societies pre-dating the invention of the toilet in the 4th millennium BC, the best targets for analysis [of parasites] are coprolites (preserved pieces of human feces) and samples of sediment from the pelvic area of burials, where the intestines would have been located during life." The site of Çatalhöyük is an important one archaeologically, and its East Mound, which was occupied continuously for more than 1,000 years between 7100-6000 BC, reveals that the settlement pattern at the site gradually changed from a dense agglomeration of houses and other buildings to a more open layout. Next to building clusters as well as within abandoned buildings, archaeologists have found trash middens containing animal bone, ash and charcoal, construction debris, and organic waste. Within an occupation layer dating to about 6410-6150 BC, archaeologists discovered four coprolites. "Each coprolite was mineralized, being either hard or solid, or having a crumbly texture with some hard proteins," Ledger and colleagues explain. After processing the coprolites with hydrochloric acid, the researchers ran the resulting mixture through very small mesh sieves in order to trap any parasite eggs that were present in the feces. Two of the coprolites were positive for whipworm eggs, and an analysis of the lipids or fats in those feces allowed the researchers to confirm that the samples were from omnivorous humans and not animal poop. "Whipworm is a parasite that is closely linked to lifestyle and environmental conditions such as sanitation, as it is spread by the fecal contamination of food and water," the researchers explain. "Human whipworm is thought to have evolved in human ancestors in Africa and spread with early human migrations; it is a species therefore expected to be present in early populations." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 800 million people worldwide are infected with whipworm today. The parasite lives in the large intestine, and its eggs are excreted in the infected person's poop. If human feces are used as manure, or if an infected person defecates near growing crops, the eggs can get into the soil. Whipworm is spread when another human ingests these eggs. While some whipworm infections are asymptomatic, others can cause bloody diarrhea, anemia, and rectal prolapse. Today, whipworm infection can be treated with an antihelminthic drug to kill the parasite, but in the Neolithic period, an infected person would have to hope it would run its course. The few whipworm eggs that the archaeologists discovered in the samples could mean that the person or people whose poop was recovered had a low-grade infection, as they note that "if the people who deposited these coprolites genuinely had a low number of worms in their intestines, they may have been asymptomatic, and their health may not have been impaired by the infection." It was not possible for the archaeologists, however, to determine whether each poop came from different people, or whether both came from the same person at different times. "This is the first evidence for intestinal parasite infection at a Neolithic settlement in the mainland Near East," Ledger and colleagues note. "Crowded living conditions, with middens containing human excrement located directly adjacent to houses, probably played a role in the transmission of whipworm, as it is spread by the fecal-oral route." However, based on the evidence so far, "it appears that the lifestyle and diet of the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük resulted in fewer species of intestinal parasite in the population than were present at other Neolithic sites in the Mediterranean region." Archaeologists have long known that Neolithic Çatalhöyük was an interesting and unique site. The new analysis of parasites confirms this, with Ledger and colleagues concluding that "the organized nature of Çatalhöyük—its housing, infrastructure, socio-cultural practices and subsistence strategies—may have reduced the diversity of parasitic infection among the inhabitants of the site, a phenomenon more normally associated with much later time periods." Although the sample size was quite small in this study, the archaeologists are confident that additional work at the site will eventually provide much more evidence of what life was like during the transition to agriculture in the ancient Near East.

What's Eating You: 12 Common Intestinal Parasites - Medscape Posted: 20 Nov 2018 12:00 AM PST Microsporidia An electron micrograph of Encephalitozoon hellem spores rupturing from a eukaryotic cell is shown above. Microsporidia are obligate, intracellular, spore-forming parasites.[1,23] The phylum Microsporidia contains over 1200 fungal species, a large number of which cause infection in humans. Two of the most important species are Encephalitozoon hellem and E intestinalis.[24] Most infections are found in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), organ transplant recipients, people with diabetes, children, and the elderly.[24] Microsporidiosis occurs through fecal-oral ingestion or inhalation of microsporidial spores via human-to-human or waterborne transmission. Patients with intestinal microsporidiosis may develop chronic, nonbloody diarrhea; weight loss; abdominal pain; nausea; vomiting; and malnourishment.[25] With dissemination, cholecystitis and renal failure, as well as infections of the muscles, brain, and respiratory tract, may occur. In rare cases, patients with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) may develop microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis.[26] The diagnosis is made via stool microscopy, but this does not allow species identification.[23] Cytologic and histologic examination may also be helpful; additionally, immunofluorescence assays (IFA) and PCR assays are available. Typically, treatment with albendazole for 2-4 weeks is effective for most ocular,[26] intestinal, and disseminated microsporidiosis.[23]

You are subscribed to email updates from "How do you kill intestinal parasites" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States