Presence of Helicobacter pylori in a Mexican Pre-Columbian Mummy

Six samples were studied (four samples of gastric remains, tongue-soft palate, and brain remained as negative controls) from two of the six naturally mummified corpses studied (adult male and infant male). Samples were taken from tissues suitable for DNA amplification by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). DNA was extracted and H. pylori detection was carried out by PCR and hybridized with the pHp probe from 16S rRNA gene. The purified PCR products were cloned and sequenced in both directions. DNA sequences were analyzed with ALIGN and BLAST software. A second amplification was performed using ureB gene by real-time PCR.From four samples of gastric remnant, only two were H. pylori-positive for amplification of a 109 bp DNA fragment; the remaining two were negative, as were the tongue-soft palate and the brain biopsies as well. These PCR products were hybridized with a pHp probe. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed homology with H. pylori in 98 of 99% when compared with the gene bank nucleotide sequence. Only one sample of gastric remnant H. pylori-positive with 16S rRNA gene was also positive for ureB gene from H. pylori.This data supported infection with H. pylori in Mexican pre-Columbian mummies dating from approximately 1,350 AC.Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) microaerophilic Gram-negative bacteria, which colonize the human stomach, are associated with an increased risk of developing gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease [1]. In a study on the survival of antigenic material in mummified human remains from the Andean area of South America, Allison et al. found that fecal specimens harbored antigens from H. pylori nearly 3,000 years old [2]. Several studies based on genotypic analysis of H. pylori strains isolated from Latin-American patients exhibited European genotypes [3,4]. Kersulyte et al. have suggested that H. pylori may have been brought to the New World by European conquerors and colonist's ca 500 years ago, because the authors found a great similarity amon