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PRE-COLUMBIAN CHAGAS DISEASE IN BRAZIL: TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI I IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF A HUMAN IN PERUAÇU VALLEY, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL
Doença de Chagas
Múmias brasileiras
DNA Antigo
Megacolo
Minas Gerais
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Abstract
We evaluated the presence and distribution of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in a mummy presenting with megacolon
that was dated as approximately 560 ± 40 years old. The mummy was from the Peruaçu Valley in the state of Minas
Gerais, Brazil. All samples were positive for T. cruzi minicircle DNA, demonstrating the presence and broad dissemination of the parasite in this body. From one sample, a mini-exon gene fragment was recovered and characterized by sequencing and was found to belong to the T. cruzi I genotype. This finding suggests that T. cruzi I infected
humans during the pre-Columbian times and that, in addition to T. cruzi infection, Chagas disease in Brazil most
likely preceded European colonization.
Keywords in Portuguese
Trypanosoma cruzi IDoença de Chagas
Múmias brasileiras
DNA Antigo
Megacolo
Minas Gerais
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