Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-kw2vx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-07T08:52:01.912Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Atherosclerosis, Mummies and Histological Analysis

A Review

from Part I - Evidence from Mummified Tissues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2023

By
Gino Fornaciari  and
Raffaele Gaeta
Edited by
Michaela Binder ,
Charlotte A. Roberts  and
Daniel Antoine
Michaela Binder
Affiliation:
Novetus GmbH Archaeological Services
Charlotte A. Roberts
Affiliation:
Durham University
Daniel Antoine
Affiliation:
British Museum, London
Get access

Summary

Atherosclerosis, a disease with a multifactorial aetiology, is characterised by the accumulation and hardening of fatty materials in the arterial blood vessels that may cause obstruction (stenosis) of the lumen. Today, it is one of the most common diseases of the developed countries, and every year thousands of people die of the complications associated with atherosclerosis (Herrington et al., 2016). Indeed, the severe consequences include myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke (cerebrovascular accident or CVA) and chronic kidney failure (Yusuf & McKee, 2014).

Type
Chapter
Information
The Bioarchaeology of Cardiovascular Disease , pp. 41 - 65
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdelfattah, A., Allam, A. H., Wann, S., et al. (2013). Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in Egyptian women: 1570 BCE–2011 CE. International Journal of Cardiology, 167, 570–4.Google Scholar
Adler, C. J., Dobney, K., Weyrich, L. S., et al. (2013). Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions. Nature Genetics, 45(4), 450–5.Google Scholar
Alterauge, A., Kellinghaus, M., Jackowski, C., et al. (2017). The Sommersdorf mummies: An interdisciplinary investigation on human remains from a seventeenth–nineteenth century aristocratic crypt in southern Germany. PLoS One, 12(8), e0183588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aufderheide, A. C. (2011). The Scientific Study of Mummies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bale, B. F., Doneen, A. L. and Vigerust, D. J. (2017). High-risk periodontal pathogens contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 93(1098), 215–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartova, J., Sommerova, P., Lyuya-Mi, Y., et al. (2014). Periodontitis as a risk factor of atherosclerosis. Journal of Immunology Research, 2014, 636893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernard Shaw, A. F. (1938). A histological study of the mummy of Har-Mose, the singer of the eighteenth dynasty (circa 1490 B.C.). Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, 47(1), 115–23.Google Scholar
Boehme, A. K., Esenwa, C. and Elkind, M. S. (2017). Stroke risk factors, genetics, and prevention. Circulation Research, 120(3), 472–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buzic, I. and Giuffra, V. (2020). The paleopathological evidence on the origins of human tuberculosis: a review. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene 61(1 Suppl 1), E3–E8.Google Scholar
Campbell, L. A. and Rosenfeld, M. E. (2015). Infection and atherosclerosis development. Archives of Medical Research, 46(5), 339–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carrera-Bastos, P., Fontes-Villalba, M., O’Keefe, J. H., Lindeberg, S. and Cordain, L. (2011). The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization. Research Reports in Clinical Cardiology, 2(2), 2–15.Google Scholar
Charlier, P., Wils, P., Froment, A. and Huynh-Charlier, I. (2014). Arterial calcifications from mummified materials: Use of micro-CT-scan for histological differential diagnosis. Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology, 10(3), 461–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, T. O. (1996). Arteriosclerosis is not a modern disease. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 23(4), 315.Google Scholar
Cockburn, A., Barraco, R. A., Reyman, T. A. and Peck, W. H. (1975). Autopsy of an Egyptian mummy. Science, 187(4182), 1155–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czermak, J. (1852). Description and microscopic findings of two Egyptian mummies. Meeting of the Academy of Science (Beschreibung und mikrosko- pische Untersuchung Zweier Agyptischer Mumien, S B Akad Wiss Wien), 9, 27–69.Google Scholar
David, A. R., Kershaw, A. and Heagerty, A. (2010). Atherosclerosis and diet in ancient Egypt. Lancet, 375(9716), 718–19.Google Scholar
Davies, M. R. and Hruska, K. A. (2001). Pathophysiological mechanisms of vascular calcification in end-stage renal disease. Kidney International, 60(2), 472–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ding, K. and Kullo, I. (2009). Evolutionary genetics of coronary heart disease. Circulation, 119, 459–67.Google Scholar
Elliot Smith, G. (1912). The Royal Mummies. Cairo, Egypt: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale.Google Scholar
Farzan, S. F., Habre, R., Danza, P., et al. (2021). Childhood traffic-related air pollution and adverse changes in subclinical atherosclerosis measures from childhood to adulthood. Environmental Health, 20(1), 44.Google Scholar
Favier, R., Caceres, E., Koubi, H., et al. (1996). Effects of coca chewing on metabolic and hormonal changes during prolonged submaximal exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 80, 650–5.Google Scholar
Feigin, V. L., Lawes, C. C. M., Bennett, D. A., Barker-Collo, S. L. and Parag, V. (2009). Worldwide stroke incidence and early case fatality reported in 56 population-based studies: A systematic review. Lancet Neurology, 8, 355–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fornaciari, G. (2008). Food and disease at the Renaissance courts of Naples and Florence: A paleonutritional study. Appetite, 51, 10–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fornaciari, G. (2016). ‘Tu sei quello che mangi’: Le economie alimentari nelle analisi isotopiche di campioni medievali e post-medievali della Toscana. In L’Alimentazione nell’Alto Medioevo: Pratiche, simboli, ideologie, Vol. LXIII. Spoleto, Italy: Fondazione Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo Fondazione, pp. 657–70.Google Scholar
Fornaciari, G. and Gaeta, R. (2014). Paleoparasitology of helminths. In Bruschi, F., ed., Helminth Infections and their Impact on Global Public Health. Wien: Springer-Verlag, pp. 29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulcheri, E. and Ventura, L. (2001). Rileggendo tra antiche e nuove ricette per dare freschezza ai tessuti mummificati o disseccati. Pathologica, 93, 700–6.Google Scholar
Gabrovsky, A. N., O’Neill, K. D. and Gerszten, E. (2016). Paleopathology of cardiovascular diseases in South American mummies. International Journal of Cardiology, 223, 101–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaeta, R., Giuffra, V. and Fornaciari, G. (2013). Atherosclerosis in the Renaissance elite: Ferdinand I King of Naples (1431–1494). Virchows Archiv, 462(5), 593–5.Google Scholar
GBD 2016 Stroke Collaborators. (2019). Global, regional, and national burden of stroke, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Neurology, 18(5), 439–58.Google Scholar
Gaeta, R., Fornaciari, A., Izzetti, R., Caramella, D. and Giuffra, V. (2018). Severe atherosclerosis in the natural mummy of Girolamo Macchi (1648–1734), ‘major writer’ of Santa Maria della Scala Hospital in Siena (Italy). Atherosclerosis, 280, 66–74.Google Scholar
Grønhøj, M. H., Gerke, O., Mickley, H., et al. (2016). Associations between calcium–phosphate metabolism and coronary artery calcification: A cross sectional study of a middle-aged general population. Atherosclerosis, 251, 101–8.Google Scholar
Hagan, R. W., Hofman, C. A., Hübner, A., et al. (2020). Comparison of extraction methods for recovering ancient microbial DNA from paleofeces. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(2), 275–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Havakuk, O., Rezkalla, S. H. and Kloner, R. A. (2017). The cardiovascular effects of cocaine. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 70(1), 101–13.Google Scholar
Haynes, W. G. and Stanford, C. (2003). Periodontal disease and atherosclerosis: From dental to arterial plaque. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 23(8), 1309–11.Google Scholar
Henneberg, M., Holloway-Kew, K. and Lucas, T. (2021). Human major infections: Tuberculosis, treponematoses, leprosy. A paleopathological perspective of their evolution. PLoS One, 16(2), e0243687.Google Scholar
Herrington, W., Lacey, B., Sherliker, P., Armitage, J. and Lewington, S. (2016). Epidemiology of atherosclerosis and the potential to reduce the global burden of atherothrombotic disease. Circulation Research, 118, 535–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ichiki, T. (2010). Thyroid hormone and atherosclerosis. Vascular Pharmacology, 52(3–4), 151–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Insull, W. Jr (2009). The pathology of atherosclerosis: Plaque development and plaque responses to medical treatment. American Journal of Medicine, 122(1 Suppl), S3–S14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, A. J., Llosa, T., Montoya, I. and Cone, E. J. (1996). Identification and quantitation of alkaloids in coca tea. Forensic Science International, 77(3), 179–89.Google Scholar
Jeong, K. H., Kim, H. K., Yoon, C. L., Lee, S. J. and Ha, S. Y. (2008). Age estimation of mummies by dental attrition: Application of three-dimensional CT images. Korean Journal of Pathology, 42(5), 299–305.Google Scholar
Kim, K., Choi, S., Chang, J., et al. (2019). Severity of dental caries and risk of coronary heart disease in middle-aged men and women: a population-based cohort study of Korean adults, 2002–2013. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 10491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, M. J., Kim, Y. S., Oh, C. S., et al. (2015). Anatomical confirmation of computed tomography-based diagnosis of the atherosclerosis discovered in a seventeenth century Korean mummy. PLoS One, 10(3), e0119474.Google Scholar
Kim, S. T. and Park, T. (2019). Acute and chronic effects of cocaine on cardiovascular health. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(3), 584.Google Scholar
Kojima, K., Kimura, S., Hayasaka, K., et al. (2019). Aortic plaque distribution, and association between aortic plaque and atherosclerotic risk factors: an aortic angioscopy study. Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis, 26(11), 997–1006.Google Scholar
Kopp, W. (2019). How western diet and lifestyle drive the pandemic of obesity and civilization diseases. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, 12, 2221–36.Google Scholar
Krueger, K. L., Willman, J. C., Matthews, G. J., Hublin, J. J. and Pérez-Pérez, A. (2019). Anterior tooth-use behaviors among early modern humans and Neandertals. PLoS One, 14(11), e0224573.Google Scholar
Krupa, A., Gonciarz, W., Rusek-Wala, P., et al. (2021). Helicobacter pylori infection acts synergistically with a high-fat diet in the development of a proinflammatory and potentially proatherogenic endothelial cell environment in an experimental model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(7), 3394.Google Scholar
Lanfranco, L. P. and Eggers, S. (2012). Caries through time: An anthropological overview. In Ming-Yu, L., ed., Contemporary Approach to Dental Caries. London: IntechOpen, pp. 3–34.Google Scholar
Leone, O., Corsini, A., Pacini, D., et al. (2020). The complex interplay among atherosclerosis, inflammation, and degeneration in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 160(6), 1434–43.e6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, M. and Gutierrez, J. (2020). Genetic risk factors of intracranial atherosclerosis. Current Atherosclerosis Reports, 22(4), 13.Google Scholar
Long, A. R. (1931). Cardiovascular renal disease: Report of a case of 3000 years ago. Archives of Pathology, 12, 92–4.Google Scholar
Luke, M. M., Lalouschek, W., Rowland, C. M., et al. (2009). Polymorphisms associated with both noncardioembolic stroke and coronary heart disease: Vienna Stroke Registry. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 28(5), 499–504.Google Scholar
McPherson, R., Pertsemlidis, A., Kavaslar, N., et al. (2007). A common allele on chromosome 9 associated with coronary heart disease. Science, 316(5830), 1488–91.Google Scholar
Mahalakshmi, K., Krishnan, P. and Arumugam, S. B. (2017). Association of periodontopathic anaerobic bacterial co-occurrence to atherosclerosis: A cross-sectional study. Anaerobe, 44, 66–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marchetti, A., Pellegrini, S., Bevilacqua, G. and Fornaciari, G. (1996). K-RAS mutation in the tumour of Ferrante I of Aragon, King of Naples. Lancet, 347, 1272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meurman, J. H., Sanz, M. and Janket, S. J. (2004). Oral health, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease. Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine, 15(6), 403–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnar, P. (2011). Extramasticatory dental wear reflecting habitual behavior and health in past populations. Clinical Oral Investigations, 15(5), 681–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neukamm, J., Pfrengle, S., Molak, M., et al. (2020). 2000-year-old pathogen genomes reconstructed from metagenomic analysis of Egyptian mummified individuals. BMC Biology, 18 , 108.Google Scholar
Novelli, G., Predazzi, I. M., Mango, R., Romeo, F. and Mehta, J. L. (2010). Role of genomics in cardiovascular medicine. World Journal of Cardiology, 2(12), 428–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ottini, L., Falchetti, M., Marinozzi, S., Angeletti, L. and Fornaciari, G. (2011). Gene–environment interactions in the pre-Industrial era: The cancer of King Ferrante I of Aragon (1431–1494). Human Pathology, 42, 332–9.Google Scholar
Pagès, M., Chevret, P., Gros-Balthazard, M., et al. (2012). Paleogenetic analyses reveal unsuspected phylogenetic affinities between mice and the extinct Malpaisomys insularis, an endemic rodent of the Canaries. PLoS One, 7(2), e31123.Google Scholar
Palit, S. and Kendrick, J. (2014). Vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease: Role of disordered mineral metabolism. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20(37), 5829–33.Google Scholar
Peng, L. X. and Wu, Z. B. (1998). China: The Mawangtui-type cadavers in China. In Cockburn, A., Cockurn, E. and Reyman, T. A., eds., Mummies, Diseases and Ancient Cultures, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 328–35.Google Scholar
Pinhasi, R., Fernandes, D. M., Sirak, K. and Cheronet, O. (2019). Isolating the human cochlea to generate bone powder for ancient DNA analysis. Nature Protocols, 14(4), 1194–205.Google Scholar
Poznyak, A. V., Wu, W.-K., Melnichenko, A. A., et al. (2020). Signaling pathways and key genes involved in regulation of foam cell formation in atherosclerosis. Cells, 9(3), 584.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rafieian-Kopaei, M., Setorki, M., Doudi, M., Baradaran, A. and Nasri, H. (2014). Atherosclerosis: Process, indicators, risk factors and new hopes. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 5(8), 927–46.Google ScholarPubMed
Relucenti, M., Heyn, R., Petruzziello, L., et al. (2010). Detecting microcalcifications in atherosclerotic plaques by a simple trichromic staining method for epoxy embedded carotid endarterectomies. European Journal of Histochemistry, 54(3), e33.Google Scholar
Roberts, R., Marian, A. J., Dandona, S. and Stewart, A. F. (2013). Genomics in cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 61, 2029–37.Google Scholar
Roberts, W. C. (1992). Atherosclerotic risk factors: Are there ten, or is there only one? Atherosclerosis, 97(Suppl), S5–S9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roger, V. L., Go, A. S., Lloyd-Jones, D. M., et al. (2010). Heart disease and stroke statistics – 2011 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 123(4), e18–e209.Google Scholar
Ruffer, M. A. (1911). On arterial lesions found in Egyptian mummies (1580 B.C.–525 A.D.). Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, 15, 453–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandison, A. T. (1955). The histological examination of mummified material. Stain Technology, 30, 277–83.Google Scholar
Santiago-Rodriguez, T. M., Fornaciari, G., Luciani, S., et al. (2016). Taxonomic and predicted metabolic profiles of the human gut microbiome in pre-Columbian mummies. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 92(11), fiw182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sazonova, M. A., Ryzhkova, A. I., Sinyov, V. V., et al. (2017). New markers of atherosclerosis: A threshold level of heteroplasmy in mtDNA mutations. Vessel Plus, 1, 182–91.Google Scholar
Shattock, S. G. (1909). A report upon the pathological condition of the aorta of King Menephtah, traditionally regarded as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2(Pathol Sect), 122–7.Google Scholar
Shaw-Taylor, L. (2020). An introduction to the history of infectious diseases, epidemics and the early phases of the long-run decline in mortality. Economic History Review, 73(3), E1–E19.Google Scholar
Shin, D. H., Oh, C. S., Hong, J. H., et al. (2017). Paleogenetic study on the seventeenth century Korean mummy with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. PLoS One, 12(8), e0183098.Google Scholar
Slijkhuis, W., Mali, W. and Appelman, Y. (2009). A historical perspective towards a non-invasive treatment for patients with atherosclerosis. Netherlands Heart Journal, 17(4), 140–4.Google Scholar
Spielvogel, H., Rodriguez, A., Sempore, B., et al. (1997). Body fluid homeostasis and cardiovascular adjustments during submaximal exercise: Influence of chewing coca leaves. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 75(5), 400–6.Google Scholar
te Boekhorst, B. C., Bovens, S. M., Hellings, W. E., et al. (2011). Molecular MRI of murine atherosclerotic plaque targeting NGAL: A protein associated with unstable human plaque characteristics. Cardiovascular Research, 89(3), 680–8.Google Scholar
Thompson, R. C., Allam, A. H., Lombardi, G. P., et al. (2013). Atherosclerosis across 4000 years of human history: The Horus study of four ancient populations. Lancet, 381(9873), 1211–22.Google Scholar
Vasilyev, S. V., Galeev, R. M., Borutskaya, S. B., Yatsishina, E. B. and Kovalchuk, M. V. (2018). Anthropological study of the ancient Egyptian mummy based on the computed tomography method. Anthropology, 6, 203.Google Scholar
Ventura, L., Gaeta, R., Zampa, V., et al. (2020). Enostosis, hyperostosis corticalis generalisata and possible overlap syndrome in a 7000 years old mummy from Libya. European Journal of Radiology, 130, 109183.Google Scholar
Virmani, R., Kolodgie, F. D., Burke, A. P., Farb, A. and Schwartz, S. M. (2000). Lessons from sudden coronary death: A comprehensive morphological classification scheme for atherosclerotic lesions. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 20, 1262–75.Google Scholar
Wang, M., Monticone, R. E. and Lakatta, E. G. (2010). Arterial aging: A journey into subclinical arterial disease. Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension, 19(2), 201–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warinner, C., Speller, C. and Collins, M. J. (2015). A new era in palaeomicrobiology: Prospects for ancient dental calculus as a long-term record of the human oral microbiome. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, 370(1660), 20130376.Google Scholar
Williams, H. U. (1927). Gross and microscopic anatomy of two Peruvian mummies. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 4, 26–33.Google Scholar
Woolfson, R. G. (2001). Renal failure in atherosclerotic renovascular disease: Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and intervention. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 77, 68–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yusuf, S. and McKee, M. (2014). Documenting the global burden of cardiovascular disease: A major achievement but still a work in progress. Circulation, 129(14), 1459–62.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M. R. (1998). Alaskan and Aleutian mummies. In Cockburn, A., Cockurn, E. and Reyman, T. A., eds., Mummies, Diseases and Ancient Cultures, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 138–53.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M. R. and Aufderheide, A. C. (1984). The frozen family of Utqiagvik: The autopsy findings. Arctic Anthropology, 21, 53–64.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M. R. and Smith, G. S. (1975). A probable case of accidental inhumation of 1,600 years ago. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 51, 828–37.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M. R., Yeatman, G. W., Sprinz, H. and Titterington, W. P. (1971). Examination of an Aleutian mummy. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 47(1), 80–103.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M. R., Trinkaus, E., LeMay, M., et al. (1981). The paleopathology of an Aleutian mummy. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 105, 638–41.Google Scholar
Zink, A., Wann, L. S., Thompson, R. C., et al. (2014). Genomic correlates of atherosclerosis in ancient humans. Global Heart, 9(2), 203–9.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×