A macroscopic assessment of porosity and new bone formation on the inferior pars basilaris: Normal growth or an indicator of scurvy?

OBJECTIVES: This research aims to determine the aetiology of porosity and subperiosteal new bone formation on the inferior surface of the pars basilaris. MATERIALS: A total of 199 non-adult individuals aged 36 weeks gestation to 3.5 years, from a total of 12 archaeological sites throughout the UK, including Iron Age (n=43), Roman (n=12), and post-medieval (n=145) sites, with a preserved pars basilaris. METHODS: The pars basilaris was divided into six segments, with porosity (micro and macro) and subperiosteal new bone formation recorded on the inferior surface in scorbutic and non-scorbutic individuals. Scurvy was diagnosed using criteria from the palaeopathological literature that was developed using a biological approach. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in microporosity between scorbutic and non-scorbutic individuals in four out of the six segments analysed. There was a significant negative correlation between age and microporosity in non-scorbutic and scorbutic individuals. A significant difference in subperiosteal new bone formation was observed between scorbutic and non-scorbutic individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Microporosity on the inferior pars basilaris should not be considered among the suite of lesions included in the macroscopic assessment of scurvy in non-adult skeletal remains (less than 3.5 years). SIGNIFICANCE: This study highlights the risk of over diagnosing scurvy in past populations. LIMITATIONS: It is difficult to distinguish between physiological (normal) and pathological (abnormal) bone changes in the skeleton of individuals less than one year of age. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Future research should focus on the analysis of individuals over 3.5 years of age.

Guidance for the identification of bony lesions related to smallpox.

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to address the underrepresentation of smallpox (osteomyelitis variolosa) in palaeopathology, providing a synthesis of published literature and presenting guidance for the identification of osteomyelitis variolosa in non-adult and adult skeletal remains. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature regarding smallpox and published reports of individuals with osteomyelitis variolosa were synthesised and critiqued to produce clear diagnostic criteria for the identification of smallpox osteologically. RESULTS: Associated osteological changes begin in non-adults, where skeletal morphology is rapidly changing. Characteristic lesions associated with non-adult osteomyelitis variolosa include inflammation and destructive remodelling of long-bone joints and metaphyses. Where childhood infection was survived, residual osteomyelitis variolosa lesions should also be visible in adults in the osteoarchaeological record. CONCLUSIONS: Despite long-term clinical recognition, only limited osteological and archaeological evidence of osteomyelitis variolosa has yet emerged. With improved diagnostic criteria, osteomyelitis variolosa may be more frequently identified. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first synthesis of osteomyelitis variolosa encompassing both clinical and palaeopathological literature, providing detailed guidance for the identification of osteomyelitis variolosa in skeletal remains. It will lead to the increased identification of smallpox osteologically. LIMITATIONS: Differential diagnoses should always be considered. The archaeological longevity of smallpox, and the potential for archaeological VARV to cause clinically recognised smallpox, is currently unknown. Characteristic bone changes in the archaeological record may be other, extinct human-infecting-orthopoxviruses. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Further consideration of the implications of age of smallpox contraction on bony pathology: whether epiphyses are affected differently due to state of fusion. Reassessment of individuals previously identified with smallpox-consistent lesions, but otherwise diagnosed.

Postnatal Choline Supplementation Rescues Deficits in Synaptic Plasticity Following Prenatal Ethanol Exposure.

Prenatal ethanol exposure (PNEE) is a leading cause of neurodevelopmental impairments, yet treatments for individuals with PNEE are limited. Importantly, postnatal supplementation with the essential nutrient choline can attenuate some adverse effects of PNEE on cognitive development; however, the mechanisms of action for choline supplementation remain unclear. This study used an animal model to determine if choline supplementation could restore hippocampal synaptic plasticity that is normally impaired by prenatal alcohol. Throughout gestation, pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were fed an ethanol liquid diet (35.5% ethanol-derived calories). Offspring were injected with choline chloride (100 mg/kg/day) from postnatal days (PD) 10-30, and then used for in vitro electrophysiology experiments as juveniles (PD 31-35). High-frequency conditioning stimuli were used to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) in the medial perforant path input to the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. PNEE altered synaptic transmission in female offspring by increasing excitability, an effect that was mitigated with choline supplementation. In contrast, PNEE juvenile males had decreased LTP compared to controls, and this was rescued by choline supplementation. These data demonstrate sex-specific changes in plasticity following PNEE, and provide evidence that choline-related improvements in cognitive functioning may be due to its positive impact on hippocampal synaptic physiology.

Sex estimation of teeth at different developmental stages using dimorphic enamel peptide analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study tests, for the first time, the applicability of a new method of sex estimation utilizing enamel peptides on a sample of deciduous and permanent teeth at different stages of mineralization, from nonadults of unknown sex, including perinates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 43 teeth from 29 nonadult individuals aged from 40 gestational weeks to 19 years old were analyzed. The sample included pairs of fully mineralized and just developing teeth from the same individual. The individuals were from four archaeological sites in England: Piddington (1st-2nd centuries AD), Coach Lane, Victoria Gate, and Fewston (all 18th-19th centuries). A method that identifies sex chromosome-linked isoforms of the peptide amelogenin from human tooth enamel was applied. The method utilizes a minimally destructive acid etching procedure and subsequent nano liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: It was possible to determine the sex of 28 of the nonadult individuals sampled (males = 20, females = 8, undetermined = 1). Only one sample failed (CL9), due to insufficient mineralization of the sampled tooth enamel. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD021683. DISCUSSION: Sufficient peptide material to determine sex can be recovered even from the crowns of developing perinatal teeth that are not fully mineralized. The minimally destructive and inexpensive (compared to ancient DNA) nature of this procedure has significant implications for bioarchaeological studies of infancy and childhood.