[Demonstration of tuberculosis by DNA ribotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a Colombian prehispanic mummy].

The mummy studied belonged to the prehispanic Guane society. According to the Mom 003 record of the Archaeological Museum of the House of the Marqués de San Jorge, it was found in a cave in the department of Santander, Colombia, and was donated to the Culture Promotion Fund of the Banco Popular more than 30 years ago. The gender of the mummy had been previously determined by PCR study of the Y chromosome; computerized tomography studies (CT) were carried out and samples of lung tissue, vertebral spine and skin were taken for studying tuberculosis. The CT scans clearly show the presence of spinal tuberculosis, accounting for its important angular cifosis or Pott's disease. DNA obtained from lung tissue was submitted to ribotyping with genes of the 16S ribosomal subunit, giving positive results. This finding demonstrates the presence of tuberculosis in prehispanic Colombia.