Blogs
ScA 60S 111107 Birds Show Price Humans Pay for Good Clotting
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But sometimes what makes you stronger can kill you, at least when it comes to blood clotting. Because the stickiness that allow platelets to heal your wounds also raises your risk of heart attack.
越挫越勇是常理，但有时候让你变强的东西肯能会害你丢了小命。想想血凝的过程，血小板的聚集在帮助你的伤口快速愈合时也增加了心脏病来袭的风险。
All mammals use platelets to help prevent blood loss after traumatic injury. But birds don’t have ‘em, nor do reptiles or fish. Instead, these critters have blood cells called thrombocytes, which are about twice the size of platelets. But is bigger necessarily better when it comes to clotting? Scientists took thrombocytes from parakeets and put them to the test. The work appears in the journal Blood. 外伤过后，哺乳动物都有血小板凝集功能防止失血。但是，鸟类，爬行类和鱼类都没有血小板，而是细胞体积约血小板2倍，被称为thrombocytes的凝血细胞。但是，'大个子"的凝血效果就更好吗？《血液》期刊上，科学家们选择了长尾小鹦鹉的凝血细胞进行了实验。
All mammals use platelets to help prevent blood loss after traumatic injury. But birds don’t have ‘em, nor do reptiles or fish. Instead, these critters have blood cells called thrombocytes, which are about twice the size of platelets. But is bigger necessarily better when it comes to clotting? Scientists took thrombocytes from parakeets and put them to the test. The work appears in the journal Blood. 外伤过后，哺乳动物都有血小板凝集功能防止失血。但是，鸟类，爬行类和鱼类都没有血小板，而是细胞体积约血小板2倍，被称为thrombocytes的凝血细胞。但是，'大个子"的凝血效果就更好吗？《血液》期刊上，科学家们选择了长尾小鹦鹉的凝血细胞进行了实验。
They focused their attention on birds because our feathered friends have a cardiovascular system much like our own, in that blood exerts pressure on walls of blood vessels.
之所以选择鸟类是因为这些羽类朋友具有和人类类似的心血管系统，血管壁都要承受血液带来的压力。
The results: parakeet thrombocytes don’t stick together like platelets do. They also don’t block blood flow in the birds’ arteries the same way that platelets do when they form clots in mice.
实验结果出乎意料。凝血细胞并不像血小板一样，发生聚集。它们甚至不会在鸟类的动脉里形成血栓阻止血液流动，这和血小板在老鼠体内形成血栓的过程完全不同。
Which means that mice may be more likely to survive a bloodletting-pecking. But birds are far less likely to suffer from the clot formation called economy class syndrome—despite being frequent fliers.
看来，老鼠可能是放血后存活率较大的。但鸟类虽然飞的最勤，但绝对无视经济舱综合症。
The results: parakeet thrombocytes don’t stick together like platelets do. They also don’t block blood flow in the birds’ arteries the same way that platelets do when they form clots in mice.
实验结果出乎意料。凝血细胞并不像血小板一样，发生聚集。它们甚至不会在鸟类的动脉里形成血栓阻止血液流动，这和血小板在老鼠体内形成血栓的过程完全不同。
Which means that mice may be more likely to survive a bloodletting-pecking. But birds are far less likely to suffer from the clot formation called economy class syndrome—despite being frequent fliers.
看来，老鼠可能是放血后存活率较大的。但鸟类虽然飞的最勤，但绝对无视经济舱综合症。
