In patients with metabolic(新陈代谢的) diseases, elevated(升高的) fat levels in the blood create stress in muscle cells-a reaction to changes outside the cells that could damage their structure and function. Researchers have discovered that these stressed-out cells could give off a kind of signal.
The signals, known as ceramides(神经酰胺), may have a protective benefit in the short term because they are part of a mechanism(机制) designed to reduce stress in the cells. But in metabolic diseases, which are long-term conditions, the signals can kill the cells, make symptoms severer, and worsen the illness.
Increased fat in the blood has long been known to damage tissues and organs, contributing to the development of cardiovascular(心血管的) and metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes(糖尿病). The condition can be caused by obesity(肥胖), rates of which have increased greatly worldwide since 1975. In 2016, there were more than 650 million adults aged 18 and above with obesity.
Rescarch supervisor Lee Roberts said, “Our discovery may form the basis of new approaches to preventing the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes in overweight people with elevated blood fat.”
In the lab, the team copied the blood fat levels observed in humans with metabolic diseases by exposing certain muscle cells to a fatty acid. The cells began to pass on the ceramide signal. When these cells were mixed with others that had not been previously exposed to fat, the researchers found that they communicated with each other, transporting the signal in packages called extracellular vesicles. The experiment was reproduced in human volunteers with metabolic diseases and got comparable results.
Professor Roberts said, “The research gives us a novel perspective on how stress develops in the cells of individuals with obesity, and provides new ways to consider when we’re trying to develop new treatments for metabolic diseases. With obesity becoming an increasingly widespread disease, the burden of associated chronic(慢性的) diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, necessitates new treatments. We hope the results of our research open a new avenue for research to help address this growing concern.”
8. What is special about ceramides?
A.They are released by healthy cells. |
B.They are harmful to cells in the long term. |
C.They are designed to reduce the fat levels in the blood. |
D.They are beneficial to the treatment of metabolic diseases. |
9. What does the author want to show in Paragraph 3?
A.The difficulty of dealing with obesity. |
B.The consequence of chronic diseases. |
C.The general health condition of young people. |
D.The increasing rates of obesity around the world. |
10. What can we know about the experiment done on human volunteers?
A.It aimed to find the cause of metabolic diseases. |
B.It identified a new cell in volunteers with obesity. |
C.It proved stressed-out cells could affect healthy cells. |
D.It indicated cells’ communication patterns for the first time. |
11. What’s the text mainly about?
A.How cells respond to the stress from high blood fat. |
B.How our body distinguishes stressed-out cells from others. |
C.How muscle cells communicate with each other effectively. |
D.How our body starts the self-protection system to repair cells. |