Research suggests that stress has the same effect on gut microbiota as a high-fat diet. 研究人员称压力和高脂饮食对肠道菌群的影响相同。原文配图 ©
原文| Honor Whiteman
乱译|中外物語
图片|原文或网络
今日主题|压力 stress
Stress may harm gut health as much as junk food
鸭梨山大或像垃圾食品一样损害你的肠道健康
Be it financial worries, work pressures, or relationship problems, we all get stressed from time to time. To what extent does stress harm us, though? According to a new study, stress may be just as detrimental to our health as junk food — for women, at least.
财富，工作，或两性关系，其实都特么是压力的“源泉”。常听人说压力有损健康，可到底是个什么情况呢？一项新的研究发现，压力对健康的影响，或像垃圾食品一样——至少，对女性来讲是这样。
Researchers found that stressed female mice experienced changes to their gut microbiota — that is, the community of microorganisms that reside in the intestine — comparable with what is seen in response to a high-fat diet. In male mice, however, stress appeared to have no effect on gut microbiota. Study co-author Laura Bridgewater, of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, and colleagues say that their findings indicate that the gut microbiota may play a role in gender-specific health outcomes in response to stress.
医学实验，一般都拿实验鼠“玩儿”——研究人员就压力对健康的影响这一课题做了一些研究，他们发现压力能够改变雌性实验鼠的肠道菌群；换句话说，以高脂饲料喂养的实验鼠，能够观察到它们肠道内的菌群会发生明显变化。雄性实验鼠相对幸运一些，压力对它们的肠道微生物并无影响。报告合著者劳拉·布里奇沃特，以及犹他州杨百翰大学微生物与分子生物学系的研究组同事称，不争的事实是，压力对肠道菌群的影响跟性别有关。
The researchers recently reported the results of their study in the journal Scientific Reports. According to the American Psychological Association, around 80 percent of people in the United States report experiencing at least one symptom of stress in the past month. It is common knowledge that stress can have negative implications for both emotional and physical health, including an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and obesity. The new study suggests that some of these implications may be down to how our gut microorganisms respond to stress.
研究成果已在近期《科学报告》杂志上发表。据美国心理学会的说法，约有80%的美国人受到至少一种压力综合症的困扰。众所周知，压力对人的身心健康都有消极影响，而且提高诱发焦虑、抑郁和肥胖等各种症状的风险。研究新发现的结论是这些症状的起因就在于肠道菌群对压力的反应（或叫“肠道菌群失调”）。
Diet, stress, and gut microbiota
饮食，压力和肠道菌群
Bridgewater and her colleagues came to their findings by testing a large group of male and female mice. Half of the female mice and half of the male mice were fed a high-fat diet for 16 weeks, while the remaining mice were fed a standard chow diet. After 16 weeks, the entire group of mice was subjected to mild stress once or twice per day for a total of 18 days. Stressors included a forced swim in cold water, damp bedding, and predator sounds and smells.
布里奇沃特和同事们对一大群雌雄两性实验鼠进行了实验研究。一连16周，用高脂饲料喂养半数雌性和半数雄性实验鼠，其他的实验鼠则以标准饲料喂养。16周后，实验鼠群受到轻微压力的影响，在总计18天时间里，每天至少有一到两次受压力影响的表现。强迫它们在冷水中游泳、潮湿的环境和捕食者的声响和气味，都是主要的压力源。
The researchers analyzed fecal samples taken from the mice before and after stress exposure, in order to determine how their gut microbiota had been affected by diet and stress. Additionally, the team measured the rodents' anxiety levels, as determined by how far they were willing to roam in an open maze.
为了弄清饮食和压力对肠道菌群的影响，研究人员对压力反应前后迥然的鼠便进行了分析研究。此外，他们还量衡了鼠类焦虑指标，以便观察它们在实验开放迷宫中能跑多远。
毛毛鸭梨山大。网图©
Stress 'causes distinct physical changes'
压力导致明显的生理变化
Both male and female mice demonstrated significant changes to gut microbiota in response to a high-fat diet. Compared with female mice fed a high-fat diet, the team found that male mice fed a high-fat diet showed greater anxiety. In response to stress, the male mice fed a high-fat diet also showed reduced physical activity, compared with female mice fed a high-fat diet.
研究发现，高脂饲料喂养的雌雄两性实验鼠肠道菌群有明显变化。与雌鼠相比，雄性食用高脂饲料后表现得更加焦虑，而且看上去鸭梨山大，懒得活动。
However, among mice fed the standard chow diet, the researchers found that female mice displayed gut microbiota changes in response to stress that were similar to those seen in response to the high-fat diet. No such response was seen in male mice fed standard chow. According to the researchers, their findings indicate that stress may have different effects in men and women due to its impact on gut microbiota.
即便是那些用标准饲料喂养的雌鼠，它们的肠道菌群失调，对压力的反应跟食用过高脂饲料的鼠群相似。但是，在以标准饲料喂养的雄性鼠群里没有发现这类反应。研究人员因此得出的结论是，压力对肠道菌群的影响，或跟性别有关。
"Stress can be harmful in a lot of ways," says Bridgewater, "but this research is novel in that it ties stress to female-specific changes in the gut microbiota. We sometimes think of stress as a purely psychological phenomenon, but it causes distinct physical changes." The team cautions that their study was conducted in mice, but they do believe that the results may apply to humans. "In society, women tend to have higher rates of depression and anxiety, which are linked to stress. This study suggests that a possible source of the gender discrepancy may be the different ways gut microbiota responds to stress in males vs. females."
布里奇沃特的说法是：“压力在很多方面对健康有害，但特别对女性肠道菌群变化有着明显影响的结论，还是个新发现。我们通常认为压力是纯心理现象，但它却导致生理发生明显变化。在人类社会中，面对压力，女性往往更容易抑郁和焦虑。换句话说，压力对不同性别的肠道菌群的影响也不相同。”研究人员称，虽然这是通过实验鼠得出的结论，但他们坚信人类或与鼠类有同样反应。
这只是个开始。
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