VOA常速英语2016--糖尿病患者或见新希望？NMN蛋白质（在线收听）

糖尿病患者或见新希望？NMN蛋白质

A substance that the body makes naturally may be a key to rolling back Type 2 diabetes.Researchers used a substance to restore normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic laboratorymice. Washington University medical school Professor Shin-ichiro Imai, focuses his research onaging and longevity. And we have been focusing on a very interesting protein called SIRT1.That protein is known to help combat age-associated diseases, including Alzheimer's and Type2 diabetes. SIRT1 depends on a molecule called NAD (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), andNAD, in turn, depends on the substance called NMN. So Imai and his colleagues wondered ifNMN might, in effect, help restore normal blood sugar metabolism. Using laboratory mice, theyinjected the animals with NMN in the hope of boosting the SIRT1 protein. We found out thatNMN, in some cases, almost completely normalized their problems in Type 2 diabetes, especiallyin the females. The effect is much stronger in female mice than in the males, and that’s ahistory in my size. There seems to be a significant sex difference in terms of the effect of NMN,and we still don't understand why. So, does this NMN therapy amount to a cure for diabetesin the laboratory mice? At this moment, I wouldn't say 'cure, but now I'm sure that we cansignificantly improve their symptoms. So the question is, can we treat humans. Can we treatType 2 diabetes patients with NMN. Toward that end, the researchers have begun tests, againwith laboratory mice, to investigate the result of long-term treatment with NMN. If all goes well,human trials could follow. Shin-ichiro Imai and his colleagues published their findings in thejournal Cell Metabolism.

研究表明，身体正常运转的产物可能是2型糖尿病治愈的关键。研究人员试图使用一种物质来恢复患有糖尿病实验老鼠在血糖方面的正常新陈代谢。华盛顿大学医学院教授今井的研究目标是衰老和长寿。

我们一只都在关注一种叫SIRT1的蛋白质，它很有趣。众所周知，这种蛋白质可以治疗与衰老有关的疾病，比如老年痴呆症和2型糖尿病。SIRT1的合成取决于一种叫NAD（辅酶）的分子，而NAD的合成则取决于一种叫NMN的物质。于是今井及其同事就开始好奇，NMN是否能够恢复糖尿病患者血糖的正常新陈代谢。这些研究人员在实验鼠体内注入NMN，以期促进SIRT1蛋白质的合成。研究表明，在一些情况下，NMN几乎可以让患有2型糖尿病的鼠恢复正常，尤其是母鼠。实验结果表明母鼠的治疗效果好于公鼠，这是前所未有的发现。似乎NMN在不同性别的对象身上有明显不同的效果，而我们当前还不清楚原因。那么，NMN的疗法是就能治愈所有实验鼠的糖尿病呢？目前，我还不能说“治愈这个词，但是我很确定的是，NMN能极大缓解他们的症状”。那么问题就是，我们能治愈人类吗？我们能用NMN治愈患有2型糖尿病的所有患者吗？为了验证上述问题，这些研究人员已再次开始对糖尿病小鼠的实验，以验证长期使用NMN对治疗的效果。如果一切进展顺利，那么NMN可能用于治疗人类糖尿病。今井及其同事在Cell Metabolism期刊上发表了上述研究发现。