Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24562188›Full record

ArticleNature genetics2014

Pathogens and host immunity in the ancient human oral cavity.

Christina Warinner, João F Matias Rodrigues, Rounak Vyas, Christian Trachsel, Natallia Shved, Jonas Grossmann, Anita Radini, Y Hancock, Raul Y Tito, Sarah Fiddyment and 22 more

Abstract readHistorical Article
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature genetics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 248 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
248citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

248 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Ancient DNA and Human Physiology.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. The Oral Microbiome of King Richard III of England.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026
    Article
  4. Interactions at theMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
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  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. [Archaeological Research on Periodontal Disease].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2025
    Review
  20. Article

188 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

32 authors.

Christina Warinner1] Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2] Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
João F Matias Rodrigues1] Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2] Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Rounak Vyas1] Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2] Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Christian TrachselFunctional Genomics Center Zürich, University of Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Natallia ShvedCentre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Jonas GrossmannFunctional Genomics Center Zürich, University of Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Anita Radini1] BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK. [2] University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
Y HancockDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.
Raul Y TitoDepartment of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
Sarah FiddymentBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Camilla SpellerBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Jessica HendyBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Sophy CharltonBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Hans Ulrich LuderCentre of Dental Medicine, Institute of Oral Biology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Domingo C Salazar-García1] Research Group on Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. [2] Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. [3] Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Elisabeth Eppler1] Research Group Neuro-Endocrine-Immune Interactions, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2] Zürich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Roger SeilerCentre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Lars H Hansen1] Department of Biology, Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. [2] Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus Universitet, Roskilde, Denmark.
José Alfredo Samaniego CastruitaCentre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Simon Barkow-OesterreicherFunctional Genomics Center Zürich, University of Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Kai Yik TeohBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Christian D KelstrupNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jesper V OlsenNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Paolo NanniFunctional Genomics Center Zürich, University of Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Toshihisa Kawai1] Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Eske WillerslevCentre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Christian von Mering1] Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2] Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID 0000000177349102
Cecil M LewisDepartment of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
Matthew J CollinsBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
M Thomas P Gilbert1] Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. [2] Ancient DNA Laboratory, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Frank Rühli1] Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. [2].
Enrico Cappellini1] Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. [2].ORCID 0000000178857811

Funding

Microbial Ecologies of Indigenous CommunitiesR01GM089886 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · PI LAWSON, PAUL ALAN, LEWIS, CECIL M · 2011 to 2019
$2.4M
T-Regulatory Cells in PeriodontitisR01DE018499 · NIDCR · ADA FORSYTH INSTITUTE, INC. · PI KAWAI, TOSHIHISA · 2008 to 2011
$1.9M
Indigenous Communities and Human Microbiome ResearchR01HG005172 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · PI SPICER, PAUL G · 2009 to 2011
$1.1M
Disruption of Innate Immune Function by P.Gingivalis Phosphotidylethanolamine LipR21DE018310 · NIDCR · ADA FORSYTH INSTITUTE, INC. · PI KAWAI, TOSHIHISA · 2007 to 2008
$494k
European Research Council 242870NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG005172NHGRI NIH HHS R01-HG005172NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE018499NIDCR NIH HHS R01-DE018499NIDCR NIH HHS R21 DE018310NIDCR NIH HHS R21-DE018310NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM089886NIGMS NIH HHS R01-GM089886Wellcome Trust 090207/Z/09/ZWellcome Trust 097829
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) preserves for millennia and entraps biomolecules from all domains of life and viruses. We report the first, to our knowledge, high-resolution taxonomic and protein functional characterization of the ancient oral microbiome and demonstrate that the oral cavity has long served as a reservoir for bacteria implicated in both local and systemic disease. We characterize (i) the ancient oral microbiome in a diseased state, (ii) 40 opportunistic pathogens, (iii) ancient human-associated putative antibiotic resistance genes, (iv) a genome reconstruction of the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia, (v) 239 bacterial and 43 human proteins, allowing confirmation of a long-term association between host immune factors, 'red complex' pathogens and periodontal disease, and (vi) DNA sequences matching dietary sources. Directly datable and nearly ubiquitous, dental calculus permits the simultaneous investigation of pathogen activity, host immunity and diet, thereby extending direct investigation of common diseases into the human evolutionary past.

Indexed as

ArchaeologyBacteroidetesBase SequenceDental CalculusFood AnalysisGenome, BacterialGermanyHistory, MedievalHumansMicrobiotaMolecular Sequence DataMouthPhylogenyProteomeRNA, Ribosomal, 16SSequence Analysis, DNAProteomeRNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Identifiers

PMID24562188
PMCPMC3969750

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