VOA慢速英语:The Influenza Virus May be More Complex than Scientists First Thought

Infection by the influenza virus may be more complex than scientists first thought. Researchers in the United States reported recently that the virus appears to disarm the body's first line of defense against disease.
感染流行病毒可能比科学家先前所想的要复杂得多。美国研究人员最近报告称，这种病毒似乎可以解除人体抵御疾病的第一道防线。

When the flu virus attacks, the body's natural defenses produce white blood cells. The cells make antibodies design to linkup to the invading microorganism, neutralize it, and in that way, prevent or at least lessen infection. The special cells also keep a memory of the invader so that the natural defenses can fight it again if the individual is re-infected. That is the traditional understanding of how the body fights the flu virus.
当流感病毒发动袭击时，人体的天然防御就会生成白细胞，这种细胞产生各种抗体用于和入侵微生物相结合并消灭它，并以这种方式来防止或至少减轻感染。这种特殊细胞同时保持了关于入侵者的记忆，因此，如果再次感染时，人体的天然防御可以对付它。这是人体如何对抗流感病毒的传统认识。

Now, biologists have discovered how the virus can disarm those white blood cells, known as B cells. Hidde Ploegh led the team of researchers, he is with the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
现在，生物学家已经发现该病毒如何解除这些被称为B细胞的白细胞。 Hidde Ploegh领导了这个研究团队，他就职于马萨诸塞州剑桥市的怀特黑德生物医学研究所。

Studies with genetically-bred mice suggest the flu virus enters the B cells and interferes with the production of antibodies, this can kill the cells and the body's first line of defense.
对基因繁殖小白鼠的研究显示这种流感病毒会进入B细胞并干扰抗体的产生，这样做能杀死这些细胞和破解人体的第一道防线。

If true, says Mr Ploegh, the process of infection may be more complex than scientists have thought.
如果这属实，Ploegh先生说，感染的过程可能比科学家们想象的更加复杂。

"And so we think that this really provides a new window on how the virus goes about its business. It may have implications in terms of explaining why certain strains of flu cause a nastier version of the disease than others," said Ploegh.
Ploegh说，“因此我们认为，这提供了一个新的窗口去了解这种病毒如何运作。它可能在解释为什么某些菌株的引起的疾病会更加厉害方面具有一定影响。”

Normally, the frontline antibodies occupy lung cells to protect the body against future viral invasion through breathing. 
通常情况下，一线抗体占领肺细胞保护人体免受未来病毒的入侵。

But the flu virus having disabled the antibodies, may instead target lung cells. In that way, the virus blocks the antibody's ability to remember the deadly invader, and labeling the virus to launch an attack on the body's defenses.
但使得抗体失效的这种流感病毒可能转而以肺细胞为目标。这样一来，这种病毒会阻断抗体的记忆能力，并对人体防御系统发动袭击。

"So this suggests that the initial encounter of the very type of white blood cell that we think defends us against the virus may be taken out by this initial wave of infection," said Ploegh.
Ploegh说，“这表明我们认为能够捍卫我们免受病毒侵扰的这种白细胞可能会被第一波感染所破坏。”

By neutralizing an interfering with the body's 'front line troops', Mr Ploegh says the flu virus has more time to reproduce and establish itself in the cells, that keeps the immune system from developing a second line of defense.
Ploegh称，通过消除人体“前线军队”的干扰，流感病毒有更多时间来繁殖和复制自己的细胞，这可以防止免疫系统生成第二道防线。

A report on how influenza overcomes the body's immune system was published in the journal Nature.
一份有关流感病毒如何攻克人体免疫系统的报告发表在《自然》杂志上。