文章推荐：本文选自New Scientist， 内容有点意思，如题‘身体脂肪有助于对抗感染’,简直是微胖界的福音。‘胖子’们可以好好研读一下，在面临美食的时候给自己一个大快朵颐的借口，内容不难哟。

Body fat helps fight infections

DID you pile on the pounds this Christmas? At least you can take some comfort in the fact that not all fat is bad. Evidence in mice and monkeys suggests it is important for storing essential immune cells and may even boost their effectiveness at fighting infection.

Yasmine Belkaid at the US National Institutes of Health and her team have found that a type of immune cell – called a memory T-cell – seems to be stored in the body fat of mice. These cells learn to fight infection. Once exposed to a pathogen, they mount a stronger response the next time they encounter it.

When the researchers infected mice with parasites or bacteria, they found that memory T-cells clustered densely in the animals’ body fat. Tests showed that these cells seemed to be more effective than those stored in other organs, for example by being better at replicating and at releasing infection-fighting chemicals.

After exposing the mice to the same pathogens again, the memory T-cells stored in their fat were the fastest to respond.

Belkaid’s team found that monkeys also have plenty of memory T-cells in their body fat, and that these cells worked better than those from other organs.

“It means that fat tissue is not only a reservoir for memory cells, but those memory cells have enhanced function,” says Belkaid. “The tissue is like a magic potion that can optimally activate the T-cells.”In a further experiment, the team took body fat from mice that had been exposed to a pathogen, and implanted it in mice that had never been infected with it.

When these mice were then exposed to the bacteria or parasite, the memory cells in the donated fat kicked into gear, giving them as much protection as if they had encountered the pathogen before (Immunity, doi.org/chcd). “It is sufficient to provide good protection against an infection,” says Belkaid.

She thinks these memory T-cells are particularly powerful because they may be feeding on the energy-rich fat tissue they are stored in. “It has an enormous amount of nutrients,” she says.

The findings should change the way we think about fat, says Anthony Ferrante at Columbia University, New York. “If you picked up a textbook, it would list the immune organs as the lymph nodes, thymus, but this study and others are changing that.” Fat should be considered an immune organ, too, he says.

Not all fat is good. When people become obese, the relationship between fat tissue and immune cells seems to change, leading to harmful inflammation. However, having some fat is very healthy, says Belkaid.“I don’t think the small perturbations in fat we experience from having a bit too much goose at Christmas are going to affect our immune systems,” says Ferrante. “But one perhaps can take some solace in [the knowledge] that good things are going on in our fat while we’re eating.”

Belkaid is now looking for immune cells in biopsies of human fat tissue. If she finds them, she will try to discover what exactly the fat cells do to increase their power. She hopes this could lead to new ways to boost our body’s immune response to infections, cancer and vaccinations. “You could take immune cells from a person, make them more aggressive and more able to fight cancer, and then put them back,” she says.

文章精读：

Body fat helps fight infections

摘自 6 January 2018 | New Scientist

DID you pile on the pounds this Christmas? At least you can take some comfort in the fact that not all fat is bad. Evidence in mice and monkeys suggests it is important for storing essential immune cells and may even boost their effectiveness at fighting infection.

l pile on the pounds 发胖

e.g. Over-eating will help us pile on the pounds, but it also comes with other health warnings.

过度进食不仅使我们发胖，还会引起健康问题。

l take some comfort 得到一些安慰

e.g. We should take some comfort from the ability of the judicial system to fight back against corruption.

司法制度有能力惩治腐败，这应使我们感到些许欣慰。

l immune cells 免疫细胞

l boost v.促进，推动，增加

原文精句：Evidence in mice and monkeys suggests it is important for storing essential immune cells and may even boost their effectiveness at fighting infection.

翻译：老鼠以及猴子(实验)中的证据表明脂肪对于储存重要的免疫细胞很重要，而且甚至可以在对抗感染上面增加效度。

Yasmine Belkaid at the US National Institutes of Health and her team have found that a type of immune cell – called a memory T-cell – seems to be stored in the body fat of mice. These cells learn to fight infection. Once exposed to a pathogen, they mount a stronger response the next time they encounter it.

l expose v.暴露，曝光

e.g. The report revealed that workers had been exposed to high levels of radiation.

报告披露工人们受到了高强度的辐射。

l mount a response 作出反应

² pathogen 病原体 (antigen 抗原)

段落大意：美国国家卫生研究院的一群人发现了一种叫做记忆T细胞似乎存储在老鼠身体的脂肪里面。这些细胞能够对抗感染。一旦接触到抗原，它们再遇到就会做出更强的反应。

When the researchers infected mice with parasites or bacteria, they found that memory T-cells clustered densely in the animals’ body fat. Tests showed that these cells seemed to be more effective than those stored in other organs, for example by being better at replicating and at releasing infection-fighting chemicals. After exposing the mice to the same pathogens again, the memory T-cells stored in their fat were the fastest to respond.

l cluster v.聚集

l replicate v.复制 (replica n.复制品)

段落大意：研究者用寄生虫或细菌感染老鼠时发现记忆T细胞密集地聚集在老鼠脂肪的周围。研究发现这些细胞比那些存储在其他器官的细胞更有效，比方说复制以及释放一些抗感染物质方面等。在让这些老鼠重新接触抗原后，脂肪中的T细胞最快做出反应。

Belkaid’s team found that monkeys also have plenty of memory T-cells in their body fat, and that these cells worked better than those from other organs. “It means that fat tissue is not only a reservoir for memory cells, but those memory cells haveenhanced function,” says Belkaid. “The tissue is like a magic potion that canoptimally activate the T-cells.”

l reservoir n.储藏，容器;水库

l enhance v.增强

l potion n.一剂，一服，饮剂

l optimal adj.的

段落大意：研究团队还发现猴子脂肪里也有大量的记忆T细胞，也同样比其他器官的细胞效果更好。也就是说这些脂肪组织并不只是记忆细胞的容器，还是有增强功能，就像是一种魔法药水地激活T细胞。

In a further experiment, the team took body fat from mice that had been exposed to a pathogen, and implanted it in mice that had never been infected with it. When these mice were then exposed to the bacteria or parasite, the memory cells in the donated fatkicked into gear, giving them as much protection as if they had encountered the pathogen before. “It is sufficient to provide good protection against an infection,” says Belkaid. She thinks these memory T-cells are particularly powerful because they may be feeding on the energy-rich fat tissue they are stored in. “It has an enormous amount of nutrients,” she says.

l implant v.灌输，植入

l donate 捐赠

l kick into gear 开始运作/起作用

l sufficient adj.足够的 (suffice v.)

l feed on 以…为食

l an enormous amount of 大量的

段落大意：在进一步的实验中，实验小组将从老鼠身上接触过病原体的脂肪取出植入到另一种从未被该病原体感染过的老鼠身体里。当这些(被植入脂肪)的老鼠们接触病菌的时候，被用来捐赠的脂肪里的记忆细胞开始发挥作用，给予这些老鼠们保护。

The findings should change the way we think about fat, says Anthony Ferrante at Columbia University, New York. “If you picked up a textbook, it would list the immune organs as the lymph nodes, thymus, but this study and others are changing that.” Fat should be considered an immune organ, too, he says.

本段大意：纽约哥伦比亚大学Anthony Ferrante说这些研究会改变我们对脂肪的看法。‘如果你拿起一本教科书，这本书会列举淋巴结，胸腺等免疫器官，但是这个研究正在改变这个现象。脂肪也应该成为免疫器官。

Not all fat is good. When people become obese, the relationship between fat tissue and immune cells seems to change, leading to harmful inflammation. However, having some fat is very healthy, says Belkaid.“I don’t think the small perturbations in fat we experience from having a bit too much goose at Christmas are going to affect our immune systems,” says Ferrante. “But one perhaps can take some solace in [the knowledge] that good things are going on in our fat while we’re eating.”

l obese adj.过度肥胖的 [obesity n.肥胖症]

² inflammation n.发炎，炎症

² perturbation n. 输卵管灌气法

l solace n.安慰，慰藉

段落大意：并非所有的脂肪都是好的。人们过度肥胖时，脂肪组织与免疫细胞的关系就开始变化了，会导致炎症。但是，有一些脂肪是很健康的。

Belkaid is now looking for immune cells in biopsies of human fat tissue. If she finds them, she will try to discover what exactly the fat cells do to increase their power. She hopes this could lead to new ways to boost our body’s immune response to infections, cancer and vaccinations. “You could take immune cells from a person, make them moreaggressive and more able to fight cancer, and then put them back,” she says.

² biopsies 活组织检查

² vaccination n.注射疫苗

l aggressive adj.有攻击性的,好斗的

段落大意：Belkaid正在人类脂肪组织中寻找免疫细胞。如果发现，就会努力找到脂肪细胞究竟如何增强自身力量的。她希望这项发现可以带领我们找到新的方法来增强自身对感染，癌症以及依靠的免疫反应。

本文作者简介：

王少娟

上海新航道雅思主讲，上海外国语大学教育技术学硕士。对综合英语的阅读教学有深入的研究，教授了数百名学生均取得了优异的英语成绩。讲解细致、逻辑清晰、课堂活跃，丰富的教学经验能帮助学生在学习中和练习中能够更有效的提高英语能力。

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