科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)人體比較大的器官

You might think that after centuries of research into the anatomy there isn’t much we don’t know about the human body. But if the authors of a new paper published in Scientific Reports on March 27 are right, scientists have overlooked something big. In fact, they may have missed something really big: the largest organ in our body.

你也許會認(rèn)為，在研究解剖學(xué)幾個(gè)世紀(jì)后，我們已經(jīng)對人體幾乎無所不知。然而，如果《科學(xué)報(bào)告》雜志3月27日的一篇論文的作者所言正確的話，科學(xué)家們一直都忽略了一件重要的事情。事實(shí)上，他們也許忽略了一件相當(dāng)重要的事情——人體最大的器官。

Researchers from New York University’s School of Medicine concluded that a “fluid-filled network of spaces” is spread throughout the human body. It’s under the skin, between our organs, around blood vessels, and along the tissue between muscles, according to the researchers. They call this network an organ – the interstitium.

紐約大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院的研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種遍布人體全身的、充滿液體的結(jié)締組織。研究者們表示，這種組織位于皮膚表面之下、我們的器官之間、圍繞著血管并且沿著肌肉之間的組織分布。他們稱其為間質(zhì)組織。

Scientists didn’t find the organ for years due to the way they typically study human body tissue. They treat tissue samples with chemicals and look at the samples under a microscope. But during this process the fluid is lost, causing the interstitium to collapse. The researchers discovered these fluid-filled spaces by using a new imaging technique, which allows them to examine living tissue on a microscopic level.

多年來，由于科學(xué)家們研究人體組織的常用方法存在問題，他們一直沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)這一器官。他們先用化學(xué)物質(zhì)處理組織樣本，然后將其置于顯微鏡下觀察。然而在這個(gè)過程中，組織中的液體流失，導(dǎo)致間質(zhì)也隨之分解。通過使用一種新的成像技術(shù)，研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些由液體組成的組織，這使得他們能夠在顯微鏡下檢驗(yàn)活體組織。

Our skin, until now considered to be the largest human organ, accounts for about 16 percent of our body mass. But Neil Theise, a pathologist at NYU Langone Health in New York and co-author of the study, told CNN that the interstitium is bigger by 4 percent, making up 20 percent of the body’s volume. This “is equivalent to about 10 liters in a young adult,” Theise said.

直到現(xiàn)在，占人體16%的皮膚仍然被視為人體最大的器官。但是，紐約大學(xué)朗格尼醫(yī)學(xué)中心的病理學(xué)家、該研究的合著者之一的尼爾·泰澤在接受CNN采訪時(shí)表示，間質(zhì)占人體體積的20%，比皮膚還多4%。這“相當(dāng)于一個(gè)年輕人體內(nèi)含有10升這樣的液體，”泰澤說道。

The study’s authors say the interstitium’s job is to protect the organs of the body, like a shock absorber. It also carries lymph, the fluid which contains infection-fighting white blood cells.

該研究的作者表示，間質(zhì)的作用是保護(hù)人體的器官，就像一個(gè)“減震器”一樣。間質(zhì)同時(shí)也運(yùn)輸著淋巴液，其中含有抗感染的白細(xì)胞。

These findings, if they gain acceptance, promise a better understanding of questions such as why our skin wrinkles as we get older, why our limbs stiffen, and how certain diseases spread in humans. The interstitium may also help to explain why cancers that start in one place can move to other parts of the body.

這些發(fā)現(xiàn)如果獲得認(rèn)可的話，人們有望對一些問題有更深入的認(rèn)識，比如，為什么隨著年齡的增長我們的皮膚會起皺紋，為什么我們會四肢僵硬，某些疾病是如何在人體內(nèi)擴(kuò)散的。間質(zhì)也許也可以解釋為什么癌細(xì)胞可以在人體內(nèi)轉(zhuǎn)移。

According to Business Insider, the new organ may also shine some light on the success of techniques like acupuncture.

據(jù)商業(yè)內(nèi)幕網(wǎng)報(bào)道，這種新器官或許也為針灸等技藝的成功帶來一些啟示。

The possibility that this network of spaces is a new organ reveals that in spite of how advanced modern medicine is, we still have a long way to go.

網(wǎng)狀組織是種新器官的可能性表明，無論現(xiàn)代醫(yī)療多么先進(jìn)，我們還有很長的一段路要走。