American journal of physical anthropology
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Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. · Jul 1993
Historical ArticleImmunohistochemical detection of interstitial collagens in bone and cartilage tissue remnants in an infant Peruvian mummy.
We investigated the immunohistochemical presence of various collagen types in bone and cartilage tissue from an infant Peruvian mummy dating between 500 and 1000 A. D. which had been excavated at the necropolis of Las Trancas in the Nazca region in Peru. Following careful rehydration and decalcification of the tissue, the mummy tissue showed morphologically good preservation of the matrix, which could be shown to be composed of various collagen types in a typical pattern. ⋯ These observations provide evidence that in well-preserved mummy tissue the antigenic determinants of major matrix components are still adequately preserved for an immunohistochemical analysis. This technique may thus be a very helpful tool for the analysis of pathologic processes of historic bone tissue. It may also allow in certain circumstances a distinction between pseudopathologic tissue destruction and pathologic tissue alteration.