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为何说素食者比肉食者更容易患抑郁症？研究揭示背后的科学原理_我的网站

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    Qingyangshen, or Root of Auricledleaf Swallowwort, a traditional ethnic medicinal plant long used in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Scrrenshot from website
A Chinese research team has identified a new potential target to develop antidepressant drug from Qingyangshen, or Root of Auricledleaf Swallowwort, a traditional ethnic medicinal plant long used in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, according to Kunming University of Science and Technology, Science and Technology Daily reported Sunday.
The team, led by professors Xu Tianrui and Xiang Cheng from the university's School of Life Science and Technology, found that Qingyangshen glycosides, the plant's core active compound, can alleviate depression-related behaviors by simultaneously suppressing inflammation, reducing oxidative damage and stabilizing neurotransmitters in the brain.
The findings were published in the international journal Phytomedicine.  
Depression has become a widespread mental health disorder globally, while existing clinical drugs fail to provide effective treatment for more than 30 percent of patients, according to the researchers. Previous studies have established a strong link between chronic inflammation and depression, but existing anti-inflammatory drugs have limited targeting capabilities, underscoring the need for new therapeutic targets and lead compounds.
Qingyangshen, a plant of the Cynanchum genus in the Apocynaceae family, has long been used as a traditional medicine by ethnic groups including the Naxi, Yi and Bai peoples in Yunnan, mainly for treating neurological conditions such as epilepsy and neurasthenia. 
The researchers systematically examined the pharmacological effects of Qingyangshen extract and its core active compound, Qingyangshen glycosides. Tests using mouse, zebrafish and fruit fly models repeatedly showed that the compound significantly improved depression-related behaviors induced by inflammation, according to the report.
To identify the compound's target, the team developed a dual-discrimination model for four subtypes of prostaglandin E2 receptors and combined it with AI-powered machine learning. The researchers screened hundreds of G protein-coupled receptors and identified the prostaglandin E2 subtype 4 receptor as the direct target of Qingyangshen glycosides.
Multiple molecular experiments confirmed that the compound binds directly to the receptor and acts as an inhibitory ligand. Further experiments involving animals with the receptor knocked out in the hippocampus showed that the antidepressant effects of Qingyangshen glycosides disappeared completely when the receptor was absent, providing the first in-vivo evidence that the receptor is essential for the compound's therapeutic effects.
    An illustration of the research. Photo: Screenshot from the website
The study establishes the prostaglandin E2 subtype 4 receptor as a potential new target for antidepressant drug development and points to a new approach to treating depression through inflammatory pathways. It also identifies Qingyangshen glycosides as a potential lead compound for developing highly targeted anti-inflammatory antidepressants, creating a research chain from ethnic medicinal plants and active compounds to drug targets and new drug development.
Global Times
。    根据盖洛普民意调查，大约5%的美国人口认为自己是素食主义者。女性吃素的可能性比男性高50%左右。

B | 认为自己是自由派的人比保守派或温和派更有可能成为素食主义者。看一下饮食和特定健康问题之间的关联，并假设前者通过某种形式的营养缺乏导致后者，这似乎很直接。然而，新的分析考虑了广泛的营养因素，包括总热量摄入、蛋白质摄入、微量营养素摄入和食品加工水平。这表明，素食者中较高的抑郁症发病率并不是由他们饮食中的营养成分造成的。那么，什么可以解释素食主义和抑郁症之间的联系？是否有一些非营养性的机制使前者导致后者？还是这种关系完全是由其他因素造成的？素食主义和抑郁症之间存在联系的原因可能有多种。首先，有可能是抑郁症导致人们更有可能成为素食主义者，而不是相反。抑郁症的症状可能包括对负面想法的反刍，以及内疚的感觉。

C | 假设抑郁症患者和非抑郁症患者同样有可能遇到屠宰场和工厂化养殖的令人不安的事实，那么抑郁症患者可能更有可能反刍这些想法，更有可能为自己在创造需求中的角色感到内疚。在这种情况下，抑郁的素食主义者这样想并不一定是错的。虽然抑郁症有时被定性为具有不切实际的消极看法，但有证据表明，轻度至中度抑郁症患者对不确定事件的结果有更现实的判断，对自己的角色和能力有更现实的认识。在这种情况下，肉类生产中确实存在对动物的残酷对待。而这确实是由消费者对廉价肉类的需求造成的。有时在工厂化养殖中，动物真的受到了残忍的对待。

D | 第二，坚持素食有可能会因为营养以外的原因导致抑郁症。即使素食中没有缺乏"快乐的营养素"，也可能是放弃肉食通过其他方式导致抑郁症。例如，食用素食可能会影响一个人与他人的关系和对社会活动的参与。事实上，它有时与嘲笑或其他形式的社会排斥有关。值得注意的是，这项新研究是基于在巴西收集的调查数据，巴西是一个以肉食重的国家而闻名。一些调查数据指出，近年来巴西的素食主义急剧增加，从2012年的8%上升到2018年的16%。然而，最近的论文调查了超过14000名巴西人，发现只有82名素食主义者。人们不禁要问，在印度或其他素食主义更像是一种社会规范的国家，是否会观察到素食主义和抑郁症之间的相同联系。更重要的是，随着英国和其他发达国家的素食主义比例的增加，我们是否会看到这种关系随着时间的推移而消失？最后，有可能素食主义和抑郁症都没有导致对方，但两者都与一些第三因素有关。这可能是任何数量的与素食主义和抑郁症相关的特征或经历。例如，女性比男性更有可能成为素食主义者，也更有可能经历抑郁症。然而，巴西的研究将性别考虑在内，排除了这个特殊的第三变量。有一个变量没有被研究，但似乎与素食主义和抑郁症都有联系，那就是接触到肉类工业的暴力图像。防止对动物的虐待是素食主义者最常提到的避免吃肉的理由。

E | 像《Dominion》和《Earthlings》这样描述肉类工业的残酷行为的纪录片，不能轻易地被描述为感觉良好的电影。人们很容易想象，一个消费了这种媒体的人既会成为素食主义者，尤其是当大多数人选择另眼相看的时候，会变得很沮丧。相反，素食者的社会经历可能导致抑郁，抑郁可能导致成为素食者的可能性增加，或者素食主义和抑郁可能是由第三个变量引起的，例如接触到暴力的肉类工业图像。本文首次发表于《 The Conversation》杂志。

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Published on:07:29:49