A protein in spider venom¹ may help protect the brain from injury after a stroke, according to research.

研究表明，蜘蛛毒液中的一种蛋白质或许能够保护大脑免受中风带来损伤。

Scientists found a single dose of the protein Hi1a worked on lab rats. They said it showed "great promise as a future stroke treatment" but had not yet been tested in human trials.

科学家们发现一剂量的Hi1a蛋白质在小白鼠身上起了作用。他们表示，这种蛋白质“作为未来的中风治疗手段大有前途”，不过尚未进行人体试验。

The Stroke Association said the research was at its early stages but it would "welcome any treatment that has the potential to reduce the damage caused by stroke".

中风协会表示，该研究尚处于早期阶段，不过该协会“乐于接受任何可能降低中风损伤的治疗手段”。

The researchers, from the University of Queensland and Monash University, travelled to Fraser Island in Australia to hunt for and capture three potentially deadly Australian funnel² web spiders.

来自昆士兰大学和莫纳什大学的研究者们奔赴澳大利亚的费沙岛，寻找并捕获了三种可能符合条件的、可致死的澳大利亚漏斗网蜘蛛。

They then took the spiders back to their laboratory "for milking". This involved coaxing³ the spider to release its venom, which can then be sucked up using pipettes.

之后他们将这些蜘蛛带回自己的实验室进行“挤乳”操作。这项操作包括诱骗蜘蛛释放毒液，接着用吸管吸取这些毒液。

The scientists honed in on a protein in the venom and recreated a version of it in their lab. They then injected this Hi1a into the lab rats.

科学家们仔细研究了毒液中的一种蛋白质，并在实验室中人工制造了这种蛋白。然后他们将这种名为Hi1a的蛋白质注射进小白鼠体内。

They found that the protein blocked acid-sensing ion channels in the brain - something the researchers say are key drivers of brain damage after stroke.

他们发现，这种蛋白质阻断了脑部的酸敏感离子通道--研究者们称这种通道是导致中风后脑损伤的关键因素。

Prof Glenn King, who led the research, said the protein showed "great promise as a future stroke treatment".

领导这项研究的格伦·金教授表示，这种蛋白质“作为未来的中风治疗手段大有前途”。

"We believe that we have, for the first time, found a way to minimise the effects of brain damage after a stroke. Hi1a even provides some protection to the core brain region most affected⁴ by oxygen deprivation⁵, which is generally considered unrecoverable due to the rapid cell death caused by stroke."

“我们相信我们已经率先找到了一种减小中风后脑损伤影响的办法。Hi1a甚至为脑部核心区域由缺氧带来的绝大部分影响提供了保护措施，由于中风会导致细胞的迅速死亡，通常认为这一损害是无法恢复的。”

The research was published in Proceedings⁶ of the National Academy of Sciences.

这项研究发表在了美国科学院论文集上。