為什么人類對貓過敏

世界上唯一有毒的靈長類動物可以解釋：為什么人類對貓過敏

For those with a severe cat allergy, any location that harbours a pet feline can become a toxic no-go zone. Research on another tragically cute mammal now suggests this might be no accident of nature – cats really are trying to keep us away.

對于那些對貓有嚴(yán)重過敏反應(yīng)的人來說，任何養(yǎng)貓的地方都可能成為有毒的禁區(qū)。對另一種可悲可愛的哺乳動物的研究表明，這可能不是自然的意外——貓真的試圖把我們趕走。

A study on the world's only known example of a venomous primate has found a surprising similarity between a key protein in its armpit glands and the allergen found in cats, raising the suggestion that if one evolved as a defensive weapon, so might the other.

一項(xiàng)對世界上唯一已知的有毒靈長類動物的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在其腋窩腺的一種關(guān)鍵蛋白質(zhì)與貓身上發(fā)現(xiàn)的過敏原之間存在驚人的相似性，這提出了一個(gè)假設(shè)，即如果一種動物進(jìn)化為防御性武器，那么另一種動物也可能進(jìn)化為防御性武器。

It's a finding that not only puts cat allergies into a new context, but could lead to treatments for those suffering the effects of an unpleasant encounter with either animal.

這一發(fā)現(xiàn)不僅將貓過敏納入了一個(gè)新的范疇，而且還可能為那些遭受與任何一種動物的不愉快遭遇的人帶來治療。

Slow lorises (Nycticebus sp.) are several species of primate commonly found in the wilds of South and Southeast Asia. Looking at one, you'd swear it was dreamed up in a Hasbro toy workshop for toddlers.

慢懶猴(Nycticebus sp.)是在南亞和東南亞的野外常見的幾種靈長類動物。看著它，你會發(fā)誓它是孩之寶(Hasbro)為幼兒設(shè)計(jì)的玩具車間里憑空想出來的。

But don't let the looks fool you. Inside the loris's mouth are rows of tiny, razor-sharp teeth used to both tear into small prey and keep predators and competitors at bay.

但不要讓外表蒙蔽了你。在懶猴的嘴巴里有一排排鋒利的小牙齒，用來撕咬小獵物，防止捕食者和競爭者靠近。

As if a bite isn't enough, when threatened, the fluff monsters put their hands up and lick the glands tucked away in their armpits, dosing their spit with a rich array of compounds fine-tuned to help transform a tiny cut into a festering hole of dead flesh.

好像被咬了還不夠似的，當(dāng)受到威脅時(shí)，這些毛茸茸的怪物會舉起手來舔腋窩里的腺體，往他們的唾液里加入豐富的化合物，這些化合物經(jīng)過精心調(diào)整，可以幫助把一個(gè)小傷口變成一個(gè)化膿的死肉洞。

"Generally slow lorises use their venom to fight with other slow lorises, causing very slow-to-heal wounds," says biologist Bryan Fry from the University of Queensland in Australia.

澳大利亞昆士蘭大學(xué)的生物學(xué)家布萊恩·弗萊說:“通常情況下，慢懶猴會用它們的毒液與其他慢懶猴打斗，導(dǎo)致傷口愈合非常緩慢。”

"But, when humans are bitten, the victim will display symptoms as if they're going into allergic shock."

“但是，當(dāng)人類被咬傷時(shí)，受害者會表現(xiàn)出過敏休克的癥狀。”

Those symptoms can include difficulty breathing, blood in the urine, extreme pain, and - in the worst cases - anaphylactic shock.

這些癥狀包括呼吸困難、尿中帶血、極度疼痛，在最嚴(yán)重的情況下還會出現(xiàn)過敏性休克。

The secretions responsible for the toxic effects of the animal's bite are known to include more than two hundred aromatic compounds, many of which have already been characterised.

已知負(fù)責(zé)動物咬傷毒性作用的分泌物包括超過二百種芳香化合物，其中許多已經(jīng)被鑒定過。

But among them are a bunch of proteins which still pose some mystery, and it's these chemicals that Fry and his team sequenced to learn more about their origins and toxicity.

但其中有一堆蛋白質(zhì)仍然有些神秘，弗萊和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)對這些化學(xué)物質(zhì)進(jìn)行排序，以了解它們的來源和毒性。

Surprisingly, the proteins weren't entirely new to science. In fact, many of us are painfully familiar with them already.

令人驚訝的是，這些蛋白質(zhì)在科學(xué)上并不完全是新的。事實(shí)上，我們中的許多人已經(jīng)痛苦地熟悉了它們。

This research was published in Toxins.

這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《毒素》雜志上。