Sepsis is a severe infection that can often be fatal, particularly in obese patients. Now, a new study suggests why obese patients are at greater risk and suggests a possible new approach to treatment.
败血病是一种非常严重的感染，很多时候，败血病是会致命的，肥胖症患者的风险尤其高。一项新的研究揭示了为何败血病对肥胖症患者来说风险更大，该研究还提出了一个可能有效的治疗新方案。
Sepsis is seven times more likely to kill patients who are obese, and one possible reason is that the typical Western diet over-stimulates the body's immune response to the sepsis infection.
败血病导致肥胖症患者死亡的机率是普通患者的7倍。一个可能的原因是西方国家的典型饮食习惯过度刺激了身体对败血症感染的免疫反应。
To test the theory, Louisiana State University professor Chantal Rivera fed a Western style diet to laboratory mice.
为了印证这个理论，路易斯安娜州立大学的尚塔尔·里韦拉对实验室里的老鼠按照西方饮食习惯进行喂养。
"It was high in saturated fat, high in cholesterol, high in sugar," she said in a telephone interview. "And then [we] exposed them to a model of sepsis and tried to figure out why the inflammatory response in these septic mice that had been fed long-term with this high-fat, high-calorie diet, whether or not the inflammation would be worse — and it was — and then we tried to go after what would make the inflammatory response worse."
她说：“老鼠摄入的是高脂肪、高胆固醇和高糖的食品。我们让这些老鼠感染上中度败血症，然后再去研究这些长期采用高脂肪高热量饮食方式的老鼠为什么会发炎，炎症会不会恶化。我们发现，炎症确实会恶化。我们还试图找出使炎症反应恶化的原因。”
In her study, Rivera found a clue in a particular protein that flourished in the mice that got the Western diet.
在研究中，他们发现按照西方饮食习惯喂养的老鼠身上有一种特有的蛋白质，从而找到一条线索。
"And what we found is that, you get this increase in proteins on the cell surface called receptors, and in particular the receptor called toll-like receptor four was enhanced, compared to mice that were fed a normal rodent chow."
里韦拉说：“我们发现，和按照正常饮食喂养的老鼠相比，以西方饮食喂养的老鼠的细胞表面有一种叫做‘受体’的蛋白质增加了，特别是一种叫做TLR4的受体大大增加了。”
And with more receptors in mice — and, presumably, people — on the Western diet, there are more places for the sepsis bacteria to infect. That's a simplification, but Rivera says identifying that receptor could give drug researchers a target for medicines that would reduce the threat of sepsis.
以西方饮食喂养的老鼠一旦受体增加，败血症的细菌也就更有缝可钻。这个推想可以运用到人类身上。这种理论虽然把败血症简单化了，但是里韦拉指出，确认受体的存在就能够让药品研究人员有的放矢地去研制能够降低败血症威胁的药物。
"Sepsis is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths annually in the U.S. alone," Rivera said. "And so, clearly, if we had a target for a drug therapy, it would greatly enhance our capabilities for the medical management of sepsis in these obese patients."
她说：“仅仅在美国，败血症一年就夺去超过10万人的生命。很显然，如果我们能够研发出一种药物，就能够提高对那些感染上败血症的肥胖症患者进行治疗的能力。”
Chantal Rivera's study is published in the BioMed Central journal BMC Physiology. |