新墨西哥大学研制出阿尔兹海默症疫苗，用于人类还需数年

据报道，美国新墨西哥大学（University of New Mexico）研制出阿尔兹海默症（Alzheimer's disease）疫苗，已经在患有阿尔兹海默症老鼠身上进行了试验，注射了疫苗的老鼠明显比未注射的表现更好。但该疫苗还不能算完全成功，能够用于临床还需要几年时间，花费数十亿美元。

Researchers test vaccine they hope could stem Alzheimer's

CBS NEWS

Researchers at University of New Mexico researchers are working on a vaccine they hope could prevent Alzheimer's disease, reports CBS Albuquerque affiliate KRQE-TV. UNM's Health and Sciences Department Associate Professor Kiran Bhaskar, who's been passionate about studying the disease for the last decade, says the work started with an idea in 2013.

注：Albuquerque /'ælbəkə:ki/阿尔伯克基，美国新墨西哥州中部大城市，the largest city in the state of New Mexico.

KRQE, virtual and VHF digital channel 13, is a dual CBS/Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States and also serving Santa Fe.

作名词，表示“支会；分社；子公司；附属机构”，英文解释为“a company, organization etc that is connected with or controlled by a larger one”，如：Volvo's Japanese affiliate, Mitsubishi 沃尔沃公司在日本的联营公司三菱。

affiliated 形容词，如：an affiliated organization/club/member 隶属机构/俱乐部/成员（an organization, club etc that is a member of a larger group or organization, or is closely connected with it）

顺便看下几个“xx附中”怎么说？

北京大学附属中学 The Affiliated High School of Peking University

清华大学附属中学 Tsinghua University High School

中国人民大学附属中学 The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China

浙江大学附属中学 The High School Attached to Zhejiang University

表示“附属于；为…工作”，英文解释为“working for or forming part of an organization”举个🌰：

The research unit is attached to the university.

这个研究单位附属于大学。

"I would say it took about five years or so to get from where the idea generated and get the fully functioning working vaccine," he said.

Bhaskar and his team started to test the vaccine on mice. It has not yet been shown if it works in people.

"We used a group of mice that have Alzheimer's disease, and we injected them over a series of injections," said PhD student Nicole Maphis. She said the vaccine targets a specific protein known as tau that's commonly found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

"These antibodies seem to have cleared (out) pathological tau. Pathological tau is one of the components of these tangles that we find in the brains of patients with Alzheimers disease," she explained. The response lasted for months, according to UNM.

表示“病理学的；病理的”，英文解释为“Pathological means relating to pathology or illness.”如：pathological conditions in animals 动物的病理状况。

这里涉及到阿尔兹海默症里相关的两个医学名词，斑块(plaques)和缠结(tangles)，学医的同学可能比较清楚...我们看看英文解释就好。(详见下图右下角)

Dr. Alois Alzheimer first described both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles early in the twentieth century, who noticed the unique structure were evident in patients with certain symptoms, now known as Alzheimer’s disease.

As a result, he suggested that the tangles and plaques may be involved in the pathology of the disease, and they have since been the subject of many research studies investigating this hypothesis.

Those long tangles "disrupt the ability of neurons to communicate with one another," the school points out, adding that tau is "normally a stabilizing structure inside of neurons."

The mice were then given a series of maze-like tests. The mice that received the vaccine performed a lot better than those that hadn't. 

表示“迷宫”，英文解释为“a system of paths separated by walls or hedges built in a park or garden, that is designed so that it is difficult to find your way through”举个🌰：

We got lost in the maze.

我们在迷宫里迷失了方向。

However, drugs that seem to work in mice do not always have the same effect in humans. A clinical trial involving people will be required to see if the drug helps in real life, and that's a difficult and expensive undertaking — with no guarantee of success.

"We have to make sure that we have a clinical version of the vaccine so that we can test in people," Bhaskar said.

Testing just a small group would cost the UNM Health Sciences Department $2 million. Right now, Maphis and Bhaskar are looking for partnerships to help them toward a clinical-grade vaccine.

Alzheimer's affects almost a third of senior citizens and "is on the rise, currently affecting 43 million people worldwide," UNM notes.

表示“老年人”，英文解释为“A senior citizen is an older person who has retired or receives social security benefits.”

· 抗体 antibody：a substance that the body produces in the blood to fight disease, or as a reaction when certain substances are put into the body（血液中抵抗疾病或当某些物质进入身体时产生反应的物质）

· 疫苗 vaccine：a substance that is put into the blood and that protects the body from a disease。

· 蛋白质 protein：one of several natural substances that exist in food such as meat, eggs, and beans, and which your body needs in order to grow and remain strong and healthy。

· 临床试验 clinical trial：When a new type of drug or medical treatment undergoes clinical trials, it is tested directly on patients to see if it is effective.

· 阿尔兹海默症 Alzheimer's disease：It is a condition in which a person's thinking ability and memory gradually declines.（早老性痴呆病，患者思维能力和记忆力逐渐衰退）

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