过敏的福音

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Food allergies are frustrating at best and life-threatening at worst, but scientists have developed animmunotherapy technique that can reverse allergic reactions in mice, and they think it could be used to treat allergies in humans, too.

食物过敏即便作最乐观的估计也是令人沮丧的，而在最坏的情况下有可能危及生命，不过科学家研制了一种免疫疗法，它可以逆转小鼠体内的过敏反应，因此他们认为这种疗法也可用来治疗人类的过敏症。

The treatment works by triggering the production of new dendritic cells - cells signal to other immune cells to cancel their hyper-immune responses. This ensured that anaphylaxis did not occur.

这种疗法可以促进新树突细胞的增殖，通过向其他免疫细胞发送信号来撤销它们的超免疫反应，确保过敏反应不会发生。

"If we can reliably 'cure' food allergies, or related conditions such as asthma or autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis with this new therapy, it would be life-changing for affected individuals," said lead scientist John Gordon from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

加拿大萨斯喀彻温大学首席科学家约翰·戈登表示，“如果我们确实能用这种新疗法‘治愈’食物过敏或相关的病症，如哮喘或多发性硬化症一类的自身免疫性疾病，对那些受过敏反应影响的人来说，这将会改变他们的人生。”

Dendritic cells occur naturally in tissues that are in contact with the external environment, such as your outer layer of skin, and the inner lining of your nose, lungs, stomach, and intestines.

树突细胞自然地出现在与外部环境有联系的组织中，如你的外层皮肤以及鼻子、肺、胃、肠等器官的内壁。

Gordon and his team extracted some of these cells from mice, and exposed them to a unique mix of proteins, a vitamin A-related acid that occurs naturally in the human gut, and an allergen - peanut or egg white proteins.

戈登和他的团队从小鼠身上提取了部分树突细胞，并使其接触到由蛋白质、与维生素A有关的一种酸以及一种过敏源组成的独特混合物。这种酸生来就存在于人体肠道中，而这种过敏源可以是花生或蛋清蛋白。

When the modified dendritic cells were reintroduced to the mice, their allergic reactions were virtually eliminated.

当被改造过的树突细胞再次被引入小鼠体内的时候，它们的过敏反应几乎就完全根除了。

While the technique has so far only been tested on mice, the researchers are hoping to progress to human trials within the next year.

不过，到目前为止，这项技术只在小鼠身上做过试验。研究人员希望明年可以在人体试验上取得进步。

Effective treatment for allergies could transform the lives of millions. And the team thinks the research could also be applied to other diseases linked to the immune system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

治疗过敏的有效疗法可以改变许多人的生活。该团队认为这项研究也可以应用于治疗与免疫系统有关的其他疾病中，如多发性硬化症。

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