少喝點酒有益大腦健康

While a couple of glasses of wine can help clear the mind after a busy day, new research shows that it may actually help clean the mind as well. The new study, which appears in the journalScientific Reports, shows that low levels of alcohol consumption tamp down inflammation and helps the brain clear away toxins, including those associated with Alzheimer"s ["?lz"?m?] disease.

在繁忙的一天過後，幾杯紅酒可以讓你的頭腦變得清醒，與此同時，一項新研究顯示，它實際上還可以幫助你清潔大腦。這項發表在《科學報告》上的新研究顯示，低濃度酒精能夠抑制炎症，有助於大腦清除毒素，包括那些與阿爾茲海默病有關的毒素。

"Prolonged intake of excessive amounts of ethanol ["eθ?n?l] is known to have adverse effects on the central nervous system," said Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine ["nju:r??] at the University of Rochester ["r?t?ist?; -t?es-] Medical Center (URMC) and lead author of the study. "However, in this study we have shown for the first time that low doses of alcohol are potentially beneficial to brain health, namely it improves the brain"s ability to remove waste."

「我們都知道，長期攝入過量酒精會對中樞神經系統產生不良影響。」羅切斯特大學醫學中心（URMC）轉化神經醫學中心的聯合負責人，本研究的主要作者，Maiken Nedergaard博士說。「然而，在這項研究中，我們首次證明低劑量酒精可能對大腦健康有益，即它提高了大腦清除廢物的能力。」

The finding adds to a growing body of research that point to the health benefits of low doses of alcohol. While excessive consumption of alcohol is a well-documented health hazard ["h?z?d], many studies have linked lower levels of drinking with a reduced risk of cardiovascular [,kɑ?d???"v?skj?l?] diseases as well as a number of cancers.

這一結果為越來越多指出低劑量酒精具有健康益處的研究增加了證據。雖然過度飲酒對健康的危害證據充分，但是很多研究都顯示低水平飲酒與降低心血管疾病以及一些腫瘤風險有關。

Nedergaard"s research focuses on the glymphatic [gl?m"f?t?k] system, the brain"s unique cleaning process that was first described by Nedergaard and her colleagues in 2012. They showed how cerebral ["ser?br(?)l; s?"ri?br(?)l] spinal ["spa?n(?)l] fluid (CSF) is pumped into brain tissue and flushes away waste, including the proteins beta amyloid ["?m?l??d] and tau that are associated with Alzheimer"s disease and other forms of dementia [d?"men??]. Subsequent research has shown that the glymphatic system is more active while we sleep, can be damaged by stroke and trauma ["tr??m?; "tra?m?], and improves with exercise.

Nedergaard的研究主要集中在類淋巴系統，Nedergaard及其同事在2012年首次提出的大腦獨特的清潔過程。他們展示了腦脊液（CSF）如何被泵入腦組織中並沖走廢物，包括與阿爾茨海默病和其他類型痴呆有關的蛋白質β澱粉樣蛋白和tau蛋白。隨後的研究表明，類淋巴系統在我們睡覺時更加活躍，可能因中風和創傷而受損，並且隨著運動而改善。

The new study, which was conducted in mice, looked at the impact of both acute and chronic alcohol exposure. When they studied the brains of animals exposed to high levels of alcohol over a long period of time, the researchers observed high levels of a molecular marker for inflammation, particularly in cells called astrocytes ["?str?(?)sa?t] which are key regulators of the glymphatic system. They also noted impairment of the animal"s cognitive ["k?ɡn?t?v] abilities and motor skills.

這項在小鼠中進行的新研究，著眼於急性和慢性酒精暴露的影響。當他們研究長時間暴露於高濃度酒精的動物的大腦時，研究人員觀察到高水平的炎症分子標記物，尤其是在稱為星形膠質細胞的細胞中，該細胞是類淋巴系統的關鍵調節因子。他們還注意到動物認知能力和運動能力受損。

Animals that were exposed to low levels of alcohol consumption, analogous [?"n?l?g?s] to approximately [?"pr?ks?m?tl?] 2 ? drinks per day, actually showed less inflammation in the brain and their glymphatic system was more efficient in moving CSF through the brain and removing waste, compared to control mice who were not exposed to alcohol. The low dose animals" performance in the cognitive and motor tests was identical to the controls.

與未暴露於酒精的對照組小鼠相比，暴露於低水平酒精的動物，相當於每天大約2?杯，竟顯示出大腦中炎症水平較低，並且它們的類淋巴系統在推動CSF在大腦中流動併除去廢物方面更有效。低劑量組動物在認知和運動測試中的表現與對照組相同。

"The data on the effects of alcohol on the glymphatic system seemingly matches the J-shaped model relating to the dose effects of alcohol on general health and mortality [m??"t?l?t?], whereby low doses of alcohol are beneficial, while excessive consumption is detrimental [,detr?"ment(?)l] to overall health" said Nedergaard. "Studies have shown that low-to-moderate alcohol intake is associated with a lesser risk of dementia, while heavy drinking for many years confers an increased risk of cognitive decline. This study may help explain why this occurs. Specifically, low doses of alcohol appear to improve overall brain health."

「關於酒精對類淋巴系統作用的數據看起來與酒精對一般健康和死亡率的劑量效應相關的J型模型一致，即低劑量酒精是有益的，而過量飲酒對總體健康是不利的。」 Nedergaard說。「研究表明，低至中度酒精攝入與痴呆風險較低有關，而常年大量飲酒會增加認知功能下降的風險。這項研究可能有助於解釋為什麼會出現這種情況。特別是，低劑量酒精似乎可以改善總體大腦獲益。」

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