VOA慢速英語：試驗性治療瞄準耐藥細菌

Experimental Treatment Targets Drug-Resistant Bacteria

試驗性治療瞄準耐藥細菌

You probably have heard about the Trojan Horse. Tradition says the ancient Greeks used a large wooden horse to trick enemy forces and capture the city of Troy.

你可能聽說過特洛伊木馬。傳說古希臘使用一匹大型木馬來欺騙敵軍，并占領了特洛伊城。

Now, researchers say a similar plan of attack could help doctors destroy bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotic drugs.

現(xiàn)在，研究人員表示，類似的攻擊方案可以幫助醫(yī)生消滅耐抗生素的細菌感染。

Scientists say the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics is among the most critical problems facing modern medicine. Drug-resistant bacteria have become increasingly difficult to defeat in recent years. Scientists use the term "superbug" when talking about such bacteria.

科學家表示，抗生素治療效果持續(xù)下降是現(xiàn)代醫(yī)學面臨的最關(guān)鍵問題之一。近年來，耐藥細菌越來越難對付。在談到這類細菌時，科學家們用到了“超級細菌”這個術(shù)語。

Learning to trick superbugs

學習欺騙超級細菌

In the United States, researchers wondered if superbugs could be tricked into taking a molecule that looks like food but causes problems once inside them.

美國的研究人員想弄清楚是否可以欺騙超級細菌，讓它吃下一種看上去像是食物的分子，但一旦吃進去就會引發(fā)問題。

The researchers are with the University of Washington's School of Medicine. They studied a superbug called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes infections in wounds, the lungs and other body parts. It can be a problem in patients whose ability to fight infection is weakened by cancer or conditions such as AIDS.

這些研究人員來自華盛頓大學醫(yī)學院。他們研究了一種名為綠膿桿菌的超級細菌，它會引發(fā)傷口、肺部以及身體其它部位感染。對于抗感染能力受到癌癥或艾滋等疾病削弱的患者來說，這可能是個大問題。

The researchers were interested in iron, an important nutrient for bacteria during infection. It causes the bacteria to grow and spread. The researchers looked for ways to limit and even stop the spread.

研究人員對鐵產(chǎn)生了興趣。鐵是細菌在感染過程中的重要營養(yǎng)素，它讓細菌生長和傳播。研究人員想要找到限制甚至阻斷這種傳播的辦法。

Microbiology professor Pradeep Singh said they came up with the idea of using a chemical mimic to deploy an antimicrobial drug to fight the bacteria. The researchers decided to use gallium, another metal, because of its similarity to iron.

微生物學教授普瑞迪普·辛赫(Pradeep Singh)表示，他們想到了利用化學模擬物質(zhì)部署抗菌藥物來對抗細菌的想法。研究人員決定使用金屬鎵，因為它與鐵相似。

In laboratory studies, bacteria developed resistance to gallium at low rates. The researchers found that gallium's effectiveness was increased when it was used in combination with some existing antibiotics.

在實驗室研究中，細菌對鎵產(chǎn)生抗藥性的速度非常慢。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，當鎵與一些現(xiàn)有抗生素聯(lián)合使用時，它的效果會有所提高。

These findings led the researchers to test gallium in mice and then in human patients. In the mice, the researchers found that a single dosage of gallium cured lung infections that usually killed the animals.

這些研究結(jié)果引導研究人員在小白鼠和人類患者身上測試了鎵。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)在小白鼠中，單劑量的鎵治愈了通常會殺死動物的肺部感染。

The human tests involved 20 patients with the lung disease cystic fibrosis. Professor Christopher Goss told VOA the gallium was slowly given to the patients in a liquid solution over five days. And while the metal cleared from the blood, it moved to the lungs, helping the patients breathe easier for up to a month.

人體試驗涉及了20名肺部囊性纖維化的患者?？死锼雇懈?middot;高斯(Christopher Goss)教授對美國之音表示，鎵以液體溶液形式在5天內(nèi)慢慢輸入到患者體內(nèi)。當這些金屬從血液中清除時，它們移動到了肺部，幫助患者更輕松地呼吸了長達一個月時間。

An iron Trojan Horse

鐵木馬

Goss described gallium as a Trojan Horse. "Gallium not only fails to nourish bacteria as iron would, it actually harms them," he said.

高斯將鎵描述為一種特洛伊木馬。他說：“鎵不僅不像鐵那樣滋養(yǎng)細菌，它實際上還危害細菌。”

The results are reported in the publication Science Translational Medicine.

這些研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《科學轉(zhuǎn)化醫(yī)學》期刊上。

More research is needed to confirm gallium's safety and effectiveness as a treatment. But the study's results suggest that the plan of attack that ended the Trojan War might be helpful in the modern-day battle against superbugs.

需要進行更多研究才能確認鎵作為治療辦法的安全性和有效性。但是該研究結(jié)果表明，結(jié)束特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭的木馬攻擊方案可能有助于對抗超級細菌的現(xiàn)代戰(zhàn)役。

I'm Pete Musto.

皮特·姆斯托報道。