Evidence of Ankylosing Spondylitis in Bronze Age Skeleton from Norabak Site: Possibly One of the Earliest Cases from Southeastern Armeniaтезисы доклада
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 4 мая 2020 г.
Место издания:Institute of Oriental Studies Russian-Armenian University Yerevan
Первая страница:24
Последняя страница:26
Аннотация:The presentation will deal with a case study of a Bronze Age skeleton from Norabak site (kurgan 1) at Southeast Armenia, showing a progressive form of seronegative spondyloarthropathy (SNS) with a combination of traits diagnostic of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The skeleton belonged to an elderly male and was the earliest inhumation within the Kurgan (1400-1200 BCE). The case was first described by R. Mkrtchyan and H. Simonyan (2013) and differential diagnosis (DD) is presented in a recent publication by the authors of this presentation (Karapetian et al., 2019).
Though, AS is mentioned in various paleopathological literature, reliable reports are scarce, because of an earlier confusion between ankylosing spondylitis, DISH and spondylosis deformans. Moreover, detailed DD is not always presented, some researchers diagnosing AS in any case of spine fusion and not taking into account existence of other forms of SNS. Several authors expressed the idea that antiquity of AS might be of recent origin (Rogers et al., 1985; Saleem, Hawass, 2014). Arriaza (1993) proposed that SNS might be a recent phenomenon associated with nucleation and sedentary lifestyle.
AS shows significant association with B*27 type of human leukocyte antigen complex. Also, there is some interrelation between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, and AS; as well as between AS and genetic markers of familiar Mediterranean fever – the disease showing highest frequencies in modern Mediterranean populations, Arabs, Armenians and some other groups. New evidences of AS in ancient skeletal remains from regions with modern records of the disease may be of interest.
The Norabak skeleton presents the earliest described case of the disease from the territory of Armenia, and one of the earliest reported cases of AS with reliable DD. The case shows that the disease was present on Armenian territory as early as the 2nd millennium BC.
References:
Arriaza, B.T. 1993. Seronegative spondyloarthropathies and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in ancient northern Chile. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 91(3), 263-78.
Mkrtchyan, R.A., Simonyan, H.A. 2013. Vorbericht zur Paläoanthropologie des Skelettmaterials von Norabak 1 und Sotk 2. In: Meller, H., Avetisyan, P. (Eds.), Archäologie in Armenien II. -Veröffentlichungen des landesamtes für denkmalpflege und archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle (Saale), S. 81-84.
Rogers, J, Watt, I, Dieppe, P. 1985. Palaeopathology of spinal osteophytosis, vertebral ankylosis, ankylosing spondylitis, and vertebral hyperostosis. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 44(2), 113-20.
Saleem, S.N., Hawass, Z. 2014. Ankylosing spondylitis or diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in royal Egyptian mummies of 18th -20th Dynasties? CT and archaeology studies. Arthritis Rheumatol. 66(12), 3311-6.
Karapetian M., Mkrtchyan R., Simonyan H. 2019. Ankylosing spondylitis: antiquity and differential diagnosis – a case study of a Bronze Age skeleton from Norabak, southeastern Armenia. Homo. Preprint.