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Original Article

Assessing the Archaeoparasitological Potential of Quids As a Source Material for Immunodiagnostic Analyses
Johnica J. Morrow, Karl J. Reinhard
Korean J Parasitol 2016;54(5):605-616.
Published online October 31, 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2016.54.5.605
In the present study, quids from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (CMC) were subjected to ELISA tests for 2 protozoan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii (n=45) and Trypanosoma cruzi (n=43). The people who occupied CMC, the Loma San Gabriel, lived throughout much of present-day Durango and Zacatecas in Mexico. The known pathoecology of these people puts them into at-risk categories for the transmission of T. gondii and T. cruzi. Human antibodies created in response to these 2 parasites can be detected in modern saliva using ELISA kits intended for use with human serum. For these reasons, quids were reconstituted and subjected to ELISA testing. All test wells yielded negative results. These results could be a factor of improper methods because there is no precedence for this work in the existing literature. The results could equally be a simple matter of parasite absence among those people who occupied CMC. A final consideration is the taphonomy of human antibodies and whether or not ELISA is a sufficient method for recovering antibodies from archaeological contexts. An additional ELISA test targeting secretory IgA (sIgA) was conducted to further examine the failure to detect parasite-induced antibodies from quids. Herein, the methods used for quid preparation and ELISA procedures are described so that they can be further developed by future researchers. The results are discussed in light of the potential future of quid analysis.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  Crossref logo
  • Pinworm research in the Southwest USA: five decades of methodological and theoretical development and the epidemiological approach
    Morgana Camacho, Karl J. Reinhard
    Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.2020;[Epub]     CrossRef
  • Recovering parasites from mummies and coprolites: an epidemiological approach
    Morgana Camacho, Adauto Araújo, Johnica Morrow, Jane Buikstra, Karl Reinhard
    Parasites & Vectors.2018;[Epub]     CrossRef
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