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科学美国人60秒 SSS 优秀跑步者体内的微生物让老鼠更强壮

时间:2020-04-07 08:06:17

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

The microbes in our intestines1 help keep us healthy, strengthening our immune systems and promoting metabolism2. But they may also give us a leg up when it comes to moving our legs up—and down again, rapidly and repeatedly—because a new study finds that mice that are fed bacteria isolated3 from elite4 athletes log more time on the treadmill5 than other mice that are treated only to bacteria found in yogurt. The results appear in the journal Nature Medicine.

我们肠道中的微生物帮助我们保持健康,增强我们的免疫系统,并促进新陈代谢。但当我们的腿迅速且频繁地提起放下时,微生物可能也会帮助我们,因为一项新研究发现,与仅喂食酸奶中所含细菌的老鼠相比,被喂食从优秀运动员体内所分离细菌的老鼠,在跑步机上坚持的时间更长。研究结果发表在《自然医学》期刊上。

Aleksandar Kostic, a microbiologist at Harvard Medical School, was initially6 interested in how the gut7 microbes of people with diabetes8 might differ from folks without the condition—the idea being that tweaking the microbiome might help to treat the disease. But the question of enhancing overall health and fitness can also come from the other direction:

哈佛医学院的微生物学家亚历山大·库斯迪最初感兴趣的是,糖尿病患者的肠道微生物与没有糖尿病者的有何不同——想法是,调整微生物群可能有助于治疗糖尿病。但增强整体健康和体格的问题也可能来自另一个方向:

"But here the question was more, what's unique in the gut microbiome of someone who is supremely9 healthy? And can we use that feature of the microbiome to transfer into other people to potentially make them healthier?"

“但这里的问题更多,极其健康的人的肠道微生物群有何独特之处?我们能否利用微生物群的这一特性将其转移到其他人身上,使他们更健康?”

And a handy window into the gut is poop. So Kostic and his crew asked 15 runners who competed in the Boston Marathon in 2015 to provide daily stool samples from a week before the race to a week after. They also collected samples from 10 people who are decidedly more sedentary, and they tallied10 the bacteria present in each.

进入肠道的便利方法是大便。因此,库斯迪及其团队要求参加2015年波士顿马拉松的15名选手在比赛前后一周提供每日粪便样本。他们还收集了10个明显久坐不动者的样本,并计算了每个样本中的细菌数量。

"And when we looked at this data, there was really one thing that really jumped out at us, and it was this genus of bacteria that isn't so well studied: Veillonella. We found that it was very significantly higher in abundance in the gut after the marathon. But not only that, it was found much more frequently in elite marathon runners than in the general population."

“我们观察这些数据时,确实有一件事引起了我们的注意,那就是未经深入研究的细菌:韦荣氏球菌属。我们发现,在马拉松比赛后,选手肠道中这种细菌的含量显著提高。不仅如此,与普通人相比,在马拉松优秀选手体内发现这种细菌的频率要高得多。”

To see whether this microbe might provide the athletes with any benefit, they gave some to mice and then let the little rodents11 run. And they found that the mice loaded with Veillonella spent more time on the treadmill than those that got Lactobacillus.

为了研究这种微生物是否会为运动员提供好处,他们给老鼠注射了一些细菌,然后让这些小型啮齿类动物奔跑。他们发现,与携带乳酸菌属的老鼠相比,携带韦荣氏球菌属的老鼠在跑步机上奔跑的时间更长。

"And this was an increase of 13 percent... I think any endurance athlete or any athlete in general will tell you that a 13 percent increase is pretty significant."

“时间增加了13%……我认为任何耐力运动员或一般的运动员都会告诉你,增长13%意义非凡。”

Now, the interesting thing about Veillonella is that they thrive on lactate, which is a chemical produced by fatigued12 muscle. The bacteria consume lactate and convert it into a fatty acid called propionate. Then mice that were treated to proprionate, which was delivered via teeny tiny enemas to mimic13 its release by gut bacteria, similarly extended their treadmill time.

韦荣氏球菌属的有趣之处在于,它们靠乳酸生长,乳酸是疲劳的肌肉产生的一种化学物质。韦荣氏球菌属消耗乳酸,并将其转化为名为“丙酸盐”的脂肪酸。老鼠被注入丙酸盐,即用微量灌肠剂传递该物质,模拟肠道细菌释放丙酸盐的过程,这同样延长了老鼠在跑步机上的奔跑时间。

"And so this creates a kind of a positive feedback loop and helps us to understand why Veillonella might be enriched in elite athletes in the first place."

“因此,这创造了一种正反馈循环,并帮助我们理解,为什么韦优秀运动员体内一开始就有大量荣氏球菌属。”

Exercise produces lactate, which feeds Veillonella. Veillonella produces propionate, which somehow promotes endurance, at least in treadmill-trotting mice. Which means that gut microbes may hold the secret to extending that workout—without getting pooped.

锻炼产生乳酸,乳酸可以喂养韦荣氏球菌属。韦荣氏球菌属产生丙酸盐,这在某种程度上提升了耐力,至少对在跑步机上跑步的老鼠来说如此。这意味着肠道微生物可能掌握着延长锻炼时间且不会精疲力竭的秘密。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 intestines e809cc608db249eaf1b13d564503dbca     
n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
  • The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句
2 metabolism 171zC     
n.新陈代谢
参考例句:
  • After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食,卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
  • All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。
3 isolated bqmzTd     
adj.与世隔绝的
参考例句:
  • His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
  • Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。
4 elite CqzxN     
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的
参考例句:
  • The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
  • We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。
5 treadmill 1pOyz     
n.踏车;单调的工作
参考例句:
  • The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
  • Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。
6 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初,开始
参考例句:
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
7 gut MezzP     
n.[pl.]胆量;内脏;adj.本能的;vt.取出内脏
参考例句:
  • It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
  • My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。
8 diabetes uPnzu     
n.糖尿病
参考例句:
  • In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者,医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
  • Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。
9 supremely MhpzUo     
adv.无上地,崇高地
参考例句:
  • They managed it all supremely well. 这件事他们干得极其出色。
  • I consider a supremely beautiful gesture. 我觉得这是非常优雅的姿态。
10 tallied 61a1841ec60066b24767ba76be257ac1     
v.计算,清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 );加标签(或标记)于;(使)符合;(使)吻合
参考例句:
  • The girl tallied them with her eyes for a moment. 新娘用目光把这些化妆品清点了一下。 来自教父部分
  • His account of the accident tallied with hers. 他对事故的陈述和她的相吻合。 来自辞典例句
11 rodents 1ff5f0f12f2930e77fb620b1471a2124     
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病,常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲,有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句
12 fatigued fatigued     
adj. 疲乏的
参考例句:
  • The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
  • The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑,疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。
13 mimic PD2xc     
v.模仿,戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人
参考例句:
  • A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
  • He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

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