猛起会头晕，到底是什么机理？

You might not realize it, but every time you stand up, your body is working behind the scenes to stop you from fainting.

你或许毫无所觉，但每当你站起来的时候，你的身体都要承受不小的负担;那些在后台默默运行的器官/组织/系统为了让我们人类在完成最简单、最基本的动作时，不至于当场昏厥，而费心劳力

Due to the sudden drop in blood pressure, special neurons called baroreceptors swing into action to compensate – and scientists just figured out more about how they operate.

由于血压突然下降，被称为压力感受器的特殊神经元开始行动，激活血压补偿程序。——科学家们也是直到最近才大致上搞清楚它们的功能。

Considering the details of baroreceptors have puzzled researchers for nearly 100 years, this is quite an achievement.

考虑到生物体内压力感受器的机理细节让研究人员困惑了将近100年，所以这是一项相当了不起的成就。

Now the team from the Scripps Research Institute has pinpointed two proteins that sense blood pressure and control the baroreceptor response.

现在，斯克里普斯研究所的团队已经确定了两种能够感知血压变化并控制压力感受器反应的蛋白质。

Once that happens, your body is told to increase its heart rate, pushing more blood to your brain to compensate, and ensuring you don't collapse just because you fancied getting up from the sofa to pick out something from the fridge.

一旦出现血压降低，你的身体将接到增加心率的指令，将更多的血液泵到大脑以应对脑供血不足，并确保你不会仅仅因为想去一趟洗手间就昏倒在地。

"Our motivation for this study was rooted in basic science, yet these findings could have major translational implications by improving our understanding of human health," says microbiologist Ardem Patapoutian from the the Scripps Research Institute.

“这项研究的动机植根于发展基础科学理论，但这些研究结果可能提高我们对人类健康的理解，所以具有重大的实际转化意义。”斯克里普斯研究所的微生物学家Ardem Patapoutian说。

The two proteins in question, PIEZO1 and PIEZO2, were first discovered several years ago by Patapoutian. Since then, studies have shown these two proteins do a lot of useful work around the body.

上面提及的两种蛋白质PIEZO1和PIEZO2几年前由Patapoutian首次发现。从那以后，研究表明它们在我们的身体里做了很多有用的工作。

Now we know that includes playing a part in the baroreceptor reflex (baroreflex).

现在我们知道还包括参与压力感受器的反射机制。

In experiments with mice, those that were denied PIEZO proteins showed greater risk of hypertension and more variability in their blood pressure.

在对小鼠的实验中，那些(借助遗传工程诱导缺陷)不产生PIEZO蛋白的白鼠显示出更高水平的高血压风险和更高的血压变异性。

When the PIEZO proteins were introduced in mice using optogenetics, however, blood pressure and heart rate were increased, suggesting the baroreflex kicking into action. It seems that both PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 are needed for the baroreceptors to work.

然而，当使用光遗传学技术将PIEZO蛋白质引入小鼠体内时，血压和心率增加，表明压力反射开始发挥作用。似乎压力感受器需要PIEZO1和PIEZO2才能正常工作。

It's not quite a closed case yet, the researchers note, because some as-yet-undiscovered mechanism could be at work behind the scenes, and these tests were only carried out on mice.

研究人员指出，这种解释还不是完备的，因为可能存在某些尚未被发现的机制参与其中，而实验本身也只是在老鼠身上进行。

However, it does match what scientists have observed in humans where the baroreflex isn't working like it should.

然而，它确实与科学家在人身上所观察到的现象非常相似。

Now that the functioning of the baroreceptors is becoming clearer, it might lead to better insights into ways to keep our bodies healthy – something blood pressure regulation is a crucial part of.

现在压力感受器的功能越来越清晰，它可能是保持身体健康的一条线索——血压调节是健康的关键部分。

If your blood pressure gets too low, you can easily feel faint, which is what the baroreflex combats.Too high, and you run the risk of that stress leading to a heart attack, a stroke, or heart failure – here are some ways, backed by science, to stop that from happening.

如果你的血压太低，你就很容易感到晕眩;如果血压过高，将提高心脏病、中风或心力衰竭的风险——以科学为后盾，我们将找到合适的方法，避免出现上面的状况。

Hypertension that has previously been unresponsive to drug treatment could be targeted through the PIEZO proteins, for example.

例如，先前对药物治疗无反应的高血压可通过PIEZO蛋白靶向。

Further studies might also look at how these proteins are affected by changes in our genetics.

进一步的研究也可能会探索这些蛋白质如何受到遗传突变的影响。

"Knowing the identity of the sensors for blood pressure control gives us an idea of how to develop better therapies to treat patients who suffer from drug-resistant hypertension, or any other problems with blood pressure control," says one of the team, Kara Marshall.

研究团队成员Kara Marshall：“搞清楚控制血压的传感器的关键机制让我们有可能开发出更好的临床手段来治疗患有耐药性高血压的患者，或针对任何血压控制的问题。”

The research has been published in Science.

该研究发表在Science上。