炎症是否会加速阿尔茨海默病发病？
2013-02-03 16:35:53   来源： 丁香园   作者：  评论：0 点击：

An increase in brain inflammation, such as that caused by age, diabetes and obesity, is known to increase risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. Now scientists at UK's Southampton University are about to start a three-year study, using brain tissue generously donated by people who died with Alzheimer's disease, to see if inflammation caused by infections such as those of the urinary tract or chest, also speeds up progress of the disease.
因为高龄，糖尿病和肥胖等引起的大脑炎症不断增加，众所周知这些是加速阿尔茨海默氏病发展的风险。现在，英国南安普敦大学的科学家们拟启动一项为期三年的研究，采用阿尔茨海默氏症患者死亡后捐献的脑组织进行研究，观察泌尿道或胸部的炎症引发的感染，是否也加快了该病的进展。

In an announcement released on Wednesday, study leader Delphine Boche, Lecturer in Clinical Neurosciences at Southampton, says:
南安普敦大学神经学讲师德尔菲娜博凯作为这项研究的领头人，在周三发布的公告中指出：
"Many of the known risk factors for Alzheimer's, like age, obesity and diabetes, increase inflammation in the brain and we think that infections could be another risk factor."
“许多已知的阿尔茨海默病危险因素（比如年龄、肥胖、糖尿病）会增加大脑的炎症，同时我们注意到感染可能是另一个危险因素。”
"There is already evidence that the immune system is on high alert in people with Alzheimer's and we think that an extra trigger, like an infection, could tip the balance and make immune cells switch from being protective to harmful," she adds.

“有证据显示：阿尔茨海默氏病患者的免疫系统是处于高度戒备状态，而且我们认为外源性刺激，比如感染，会打破这个平衡，并促进免疫细胞的作用由自身保护性转变为自身损伤性。”她补充道。
Alzheimer's Research UK has already put £300,000 into the project. The money is part of the charity's £20m investment in leading dementia research in the UK.
英国已经向阿尔茨海默病研究项目投入了300,000英镑。这些资金是慈善机构在投资的用于研究老年痴呆症的2000万英镑中的一部分。

The study started in January 2013, and will add to the growing pile of evidence that shows how the immune system is implicated in Alzheimer's disease.
该研究开始于2013年1月，它将不断增加一些证据，以表明阿尔茨海默病与免疫系统是有怎样的联系。

The Southampton team believes that in Alzheimer's, the immune system goes beyond its role as protector of the body and starts causing damage, like it does in an autoimmune disease.
南安普敦团队认为，在阿尔茨海默病中，免疫系统超越了其作为保护人体的作用，并开始造成损害，就如其在自身免疫性疾病中起的作用一样。

For their study, Boche and colleagues will use brain tissue generously donated by people who had Alzheimer's disease when they died.
博凯和他的同事将采用阿尔茨海默病患者死亡后慷慨捐献的脑组织进行研究。

With reference to donors' medical records, the researchers will compare the brains of those who had infections when they died with those who did not.
在参照捐献者生前的医疗档案后，研究人员将对比死亡时有感染和无感染患者的大脑。
They will be particularly interested in immune cells known as "microglia", which go around mopping up cellular debris. They will use fluorescent tags to label the cells in the brain, and look at them under the microscope.
他们对被称为“小神经胶质细胞”的这种免疫细胞尤其感兴趣，该细胞到处游走，清理细胞残骸。他们将使用荧光标记法标记这些脑细胞，然后在显微镜下观察。
The team will be looking for signs that infection causes distinct changes in microglia in people with Alzheimer's.
该团队将寻找感染导致阿尔茨海默病患者的小胶质细胞发生的明显改变的表现。
Boche says they believe the microglia may produce chemicals that are harmful to surrounding cells and make Alzheimer's worse.
博凯表示他们认为小神经胶质细胞可能合成一些对周围细胞有害的化学物质，这将导致阿尔茨海默病患者的病情加重。

"The findings could have important implications both for our understanding of the disease and for the management of healthcare in the elderly," says Boche, adding that she and her team are "incredibly grateful to Alzheimer's Research UK and their supporters for providing us with the funds to make the research possible".

博凯说：“研究结果对于我们了解这种疾病及规划老年人健康保健都有重要的意义，”并补充道：她和她的团队“非常感谢英国阿尔茨海默病研究中心和为我们提供资金的支持者，以使这些研究成为可能。”
The hope is the findings will increase understanding about how to delay the progression of Alzheimer's, a disease that affects over half a million people in the UK.
这项研究的预期是将增进关于如何延缓阿尔茨海默病进展的了解，在英国超过50万人罹患该疾病。
Eric Karran, Director of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, says:
英国阿尔茨海默病研究中心主任埃里克卡伦说：

"Slowing the progression of Alzheimer's could have a huge impact on families and allow people more valuable time with their loved ones."
“减缓阿尔茨海默病进程对一个家庭有很大的影响，它可以使得阿尔茨海默病患者和他们的亲人一起享受更多的时间。”
"Only by understanding the factors that drive the disease, can we develop new and innovative ways to slow it down," he adds.
“只有通过了解这些因素对该疾病的影响，我们才可能发现一些新的、富有创造性的方法以减缓其进程。”他补充道。（另一种译法：“我们只有了解了疾病进展的促进因素，才能开发出新的、**性的方法来延缓其进展”他补充道。）

Last year, several new studies helped with funds from the charity, showed that inflammation plays an important role in Alzheimer's, and the charity expects this latest project will build on those results.

去年，一些由慈善机构提供经费的新研究显示：感染在阿尔茨海默病中起重要作用。该慈善机构希望最新的研究项目能在此基础上进行。
In June 2012, scientists in the US reported the results of a small trial where a group of Alzheimer's patients treated for 3 years with an immunotherapy drug showed no symptom decline over the treatment period.

2012年6月，美国科学家发表了一个小样本实验的结果。在这一实验中，对一组阿尔茨海默病患者进行了为期3年的药物免疫治疗，但在治疗期间并未见其症状缓解。