一種非常罕見的基因可以解釋為什么有些女性在分娩時不需要止痛劑

一種非常罕見的基因可以解釋為什么有些女性在分娩時不需要止痛劑

Women who don't need an epidural during childbirth might be carriers of a rare genetic variant that gives them a much higher threshold for pain, scientists have discovered.

科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，在分娩過程中不需要硬膜外麻醉的女性可能是一種罕見的基因變異攜帶者，這種變異讓她們的疼痛閾值更高。

Only about one in 100 women have the variant, which reduces the ability of nerve cells to send pain signals to the brain, researchers at the University of Cambridge found.

劍橋大學(xué)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，每100位婦女中就有1位是該基因變異者，這種變異會降低神經(jīng)細胞向大腦發(fā)送疼痛信號的能力。

The gene then acts as a natural epidural, it and may explain why childbirth is a less painful experience for a small number of women.

這種基因就像一種自然的硬膜外麻醉，它也許可以解釋為什么分娩對少數(shù)女性來說是一種不那么痛苦的經(jīng)歷。

Scientists put a group of women, all of whom gave birth without requesting pain relief, through a number of exercises to test their resistance to discomfort, including applying heat and pressure to their arms and asking them to plunge their hands into icy water.

科學(xué)家讓一組婦女在沒有要求止痛的情況下分娩，通過一系列練習(xí)測試她們對不適的抵抗力，包括在手臂上加熱和加壓，并要求她們把手伸進冰冷的水中。

When compared to another group of mothers who did require pain relief, they were shown to have a far higher threshold before they experienced pain.

與另一組需要減輕疼痛的母親相比，她們在經(jīng)歷疼痛之前的閾值要高得多。

"It is unusual for women to not request gas and air, or epidural for pain relief during labor, particularly when delivering for the first time," said Dr. Michael Lee, joint lead author, in a press release.

“女性在分娩時不要求使用氣體和空氣(麻醉)，或硬膜外麻醉來緩解疼痛，這是不尋常的，特別是在第一次分娩時，”邁克爾·李博士在一份新聞稿中說。

"When we tested these women, it was clear their pain threshold was generally much higher than it was for other women," said Lee, a lecturer with the University of Cambridge's division of anaesthesia.

“當(dāng)我們對這些女性進行測試時，很明顯，她們的疼痛閾值通常比其他女性高得多，”劍橋大學(xué)麻醉科的講師李說。

Their genetic code was then explored -- and scientists found a unique variant to one cell that was present in many of the women who didn't need assistance during childbirth.

然后科學(xué)家們對她們的遺傳密碼進行了研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個細胞的獨特變體，這種變體存在于許多分娩時不需要幫助的女性身上。

It involved the gene KCNG4, which helps produce protein that created a "gate," controlling the electric signal that flows along our nerve cells and into our brains.

它涉及到基因KCNG4，它幫助產(chǎn)生蛋白質(zhì)，這種蛋白質(zhì)會創(chuàng)造一個“門”， 控制沿著神經(jīng)細胞流動的電信號進入我們的大腦。

"Sensitivity of this gatekeeper to electric signals that had the ability to open the gate and turn nerves on was reduced by the rare variant," the researchers found.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，“這種罕見的變異降低了“守門人”對電信號的敏感度，而電信號有能力打開大門并激活神經(jīng)。”

"The genetic variant that we found in women who feel less pain during childbirth leads to a 'defect' in the formation of the switch on the nerve cells," co-author Ewan St. John Smith explained. "In fact, this defect acts like a natural epidural."

“我們在分娩時疼痛感較輕的女性身上發(fā)現(xiàn)的基因變異導(dǎo)致神經(jīng)細胞開關(guān)形成的‘缺陷’，”合著者伊萬·圣約翰史密斯解釋道。“事實上，這種缺損就像是天然的硬膜外麻醉。”

"It means it takes a much greater signal -- in other words, stronger contractions during labor -- to switch it on," said Smith, a PhD with Cambridge's department of pharmacology. "This makes it less likely that pain signals can reach the brain."

“這意味著需要更大的信號——換句話說，分娩時更強烈的宮縮——來啟動它，”劍橋大學(xué)藥理學(xué)博士史密斯說。“這降低了疼痛信號到達大腦的可能性。”

Their study was published in the journal Cell Reports on Tuesday.

他們的研究發(fā)表在周二的《細胞報告》雜志上。

Another study from 2018 found that epidurals, which reduce the pain experienced during labor, were linked to a reduced risk of postpartum depression, although its authors cautioned that other factors might play a larger role.

2018年的另一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，減輕分娩過程中的疼痛的硬膜外麻醉與降低產(chǎn)后抑郁癥風(fēng)險有關(guān)，不過該研究的作者警告說，其他因素可能發(fā)揮更大的作用。

Epidurals are increasing in popularity among women in the United States, researchers at Stanford University found while collating data on millions of births over the past decade.

斯坦福大學(xué)的研究人員在整理過去十年中數(shù)百萬的分娩數(shù)據(jù)時發(fā)現(xiàn)，硬膜外麻醉在美國女性中越來越受歡迎。