Chang Seok Oh

PALEOPARASITOLOGICAL REPORT ON THE STOOL FROM A MEDIEVAL CHILD MUMMY IN YANGJU, KOREA

Previous studies have successfully shown evidence for parasitic infections in human remains from various archaeological sites. However, in the case of Korea, since there have been very few paleoparasitological reports published, pre-20th century parasitic infection patterns remain obscure. Therefore, in order to partly fill this gap, we are reporting on a case of paleoparasitic infection from the feces of a 15th century child mummy from Yangju, Korea. In the course of the present study, we found the eggs of Clonorchis sinensis, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Trichuris trichiura in the feces of the mummy. Trichuris trichiura eggs were found in far greater numbers than other parasite eggs; in fact, intact bipolar plugs were clearly observed and even the larvae were still visible in some eggs. The eggs of C. sinensis and A. lumbricoides were also well preserved, though not in as great a number. Since we could find a number of well-preserved larvae-containing eggs, we are encouraged that successful extraction, amplification, and sequence determination of ancient DNA from the paleoparasite eggs might be possible in future studies. With additional paleoparasitological investigation using feces from Korean mummies, we hope that a history of parasite infection in Korea will be reconstructed.

Gymnophalloides seoi Eggs from the Stool of a 17th Century Female Mummy Found in Hadong, Republic of Korea

It was previously reported that paleoparasitological clues for parasites infecting humans could be found in the feces of mummies of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) in the Republic of Korea. Here, we report the presence of trematode eggs, including Clonorchis sinensis, Metagonimus yokogawai, and Gymnophalloides seoi (a human parasite known in Korea since 1993) in the feces of a recently excavated female mummy in Hadong, Republic of Korea. This is the first report of the discovery of a G. seoi infection in a human mummy. Since Hadong is currently not an endemic area for G. seoi, we speculate that the parasite might have occurred frequently along coastal areas of the Korean peninsula several hundred years ago and that the endemic areas contracted to, more or less, restricted regions since that time.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY OF ANCIENT PARASITE EGGS RECOVERED FROM KOREAN MUMMIES OF THE JOSEON DYNASTY

Abstract We have previously shown that parasite eggs have been identified in the coprolites of Korean mummies. These eggs have shed light on parasitic infection patterns in Korean populations living several hundred years ago. We conducted a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study on ancient Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, Metagonimus yokogawai, Paragonimus westermani, and Gymnophalloides seoi eggs recovered from Korean mummies of the Joseon Dynasty. We anticipated that the taphonomic conditions of mummification would alter the eggs of certain species but not of others. Our SEM data show that each species of ancient egg exhibited different degrees of preservation. Thus, some of them, for example, M. yokogawai, exhibited a better preservation status than others, suggesting that they should be the first candidates considered when choosing subjects for future paleoparasitological studies.

The Influence of Differential Burial Preservation on the Recovery of Parasite Eggs in Soil Samples from Korean Medieval Tombs

Abstract The present study showed that ancient parasite eggs, not commonly present in soil samples from medieval Korean tombs, have been found in a very limited number of cases that satisfy certain archaeological requirements. In our paleo-parasitological examination of soil samples from medieval tombs encapsulated by a lime soil mixture barrier (LSMB), parasite eggs were more commonly detected in tombs that contained remains with clothes, hair, or brain tissue, though samples from not all such tombs contained eggs. Nonetheless, there was a close correlation between the preservation of certain types of cultural or human remains and the presence of ancient parasite eggs within medieval Korean LSMB tombs. Such remains, therefore, could be regarded as a strong predictor of well-preserved ancient parasite eggs in soil samples from LSMB tombs.

Finding Ancient Parasite Larvae in a Sample From a Male Living in Late 17th Century Korea

Abstract Parasitological examination of samples from tombs of the Korean Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) could be helpful to researchers in understanding parasitic infection prevalence in pre-industrial Korean society. Whereas most of our previous parasitological studies revealed the presence of ancient parasite eggs in coprolites of Korean mummies, a sample from a man living in late 17th century Korea proved to be relatively unique in possessing what appeared to be several species of parasite larvae. The larvae identified included Strongyloides stercoralis and Trichostrongylus spp., along with eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and Paragonimus westermani. Since ancient parasite larvae retain enough morphology to make proper species identification possible, even after long burial times, the examination of parasite larvae within ancient samples will be conducted more carefully in our future work.

Sixteenth Century Gymnophalloides seoi Infection on the Coast of the Korean Peninsula

Abstract: Gymnophalloides seoi is a trematode species discovered as recently as 1993. Interestingly, ancient G. seoi eggs were identified in our earlier study on a 17th Century female mummy unearthed in a Korean county (HD-1) where G. seoi infection, according to a nationwide survey of 2001, was considered not to have been endemic. Although we suspected that the geographical distribution of G. seoi might have contracted over the past several hundred years from wider coastal areas on the Korean peninsula to the much more restricted region delineated by the survey, there has been only the single, above-noted report of an ancient G. seoi infection in a currently non-endemic area. As such, more evidence is needed before our contraction theory of G. seoi infection prevalence can be confirmed as fact. Our current report in this regard will perhaps help to end the controversy. In a newly discovered 17th Century male mummy found in another Korean county considered non-endemic by the 2001 survey, we identified a large number of ancient G. seoi eggs. We believe that this additional evidence for a wider distribution of G. seoi infection prior to the 20th Century is invaluable support for our earlier hypothesis.

The changing pattern of parasitic infection among Korean populations by paleoparasitological study of Joseon Dynasty mummies.

Abstract:u2003 In the coprolites of 4 recently discovered Joseon mummies of Korea, we found Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Metagonimus yokogawai, Paragonimus westermani, and Clonorchis sinensis eggs. The current finding was compared with previous paleoparasitological data, and with recent national survey data from Korea. For A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura, similar patterns of infection prevalence were observed between the national survey of 1961 and our current Joseon data. Some of the trematode species (C. sinenesis and P. westermani) showed much higher infection prevalences among the Joseon Koreans than among their 1960s descendants. The present results indicate that the decrease in trematode infection rates might have begun earlier than was the case for nematode infection.

Amplification of DNA remnants in mummified human brains from medieval Joseon tombs of Korea.

Recently, a number of mummified brains obtained from the remains of medieval Joseon Koreans have been subjected to biological investigations. Although the morphology of the organs had been perfectly maintained on gross examination, we still do not know how well biomolecules such as DNA were preserved. In the present study, the preservation status of remnant DNA in mummified brain tissue was determined by means of comparisons with corresponding DNA taken from the femurs of the same subjects. Quantifiler analysis revealed that DNA from the mummified brain was less fragmented than that contained in the femurs. The better preservation status of the brain DNA was shown also in MiniFiler assays: the number of short tandem repeat (STR) locus profiles for the mummified brain was far higher than in the case of the femur bones. In the case of the mtDNA analysis, longer DNA fragments (821 bp) could be successfully amplified with brain samples, whereas only shorter PCR amplicons (221-263 bp) were seen with the femur samples. Indeed mummified brain tissue, if discovered in amounts suitable for ancient DNA analysis, promises to be the preferred source for genetic analysis of individuals from pre-modern Korean tombs.

A Paleoparasitological Study on the Capital Area of the Ancient Korean Kingdom.

Abstract:u2003 A paleoparasitological study was performed on soil samples obtained at archaeological sites dating to the Baekje period in ancient Korean history. The samples were obtained from Buyeo, the capital area of the Baekje Kingdom, and from others corresponding to provincial counties of the same period. We found Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura eggs in the Buyeo samples but not any in the samples from the provincial counties. Our results suggest that the parasite-egg contamination patterns were closely correlated with population densities, in that the provincial counties of the Kingdom, compared with the capital Buyeo, were very sparsely populated. This is the first comprehensive paleoparasitological report on soil contamination patterns in the capital of the Baekje Kingdom, one of the most highly populated areas in ancient Korean history.

Ancient Ascaris DNA Sequences of Cytochrome B, Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit 1, NADH Dehydrogenase Subunit 1, and Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 Genes from Korean Joseon Mummy Feces

Abstract We analyzed Ascaris ancient DNA of cytochrome b, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, and internal transcribed spacer 1 genes extracted from the feces or precipitates of 15- to 18th-century Korean mummies. After multiple Ascaris genes in ancient samples were successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), consensus sequences could be determined by the alignment of the sequences of cloned PCR products. The obtained sequences of each gene were highly similar to those of Ascaris spp. reported thus far but were genetically distinct from Baylisascaris, Parascaris, and Toxascaris spp. The current report establishes that the genetic characteristics of the Ascaris spp. infecting pre-modern Korean societies were not uniform but were diverse to some degree.