淀粉样蛋白的现象不是本质

The appearance of amyloid is not the essence

淀粉样蛋白可通过β折叠聚集成纤维沉积,常见于2型糖尿病患者的胰岛与老年性痴呆患者的大脑组织中。临床与基础研究尚未确定淀粉样蛋白沉积到底是病理性还是功能性。通过对淀粉样蛋白形色的观察与研究,了知人眼、显微镜、光波等观察工具的局限性,同时观察者亦囿于成见。虽是同一淀粉样蛋白,人与细菌等其他生物所见各异。因此临床与科研应避免滥用检查工具及技术手段,破除对检查结果和实验数据的迷信,从而更好地认清事物的本质。

A soluble amyloid protein can aggregate as fibrilla deposits with characteristic cross β-sheet structure. Patients with type 2 diabetes frequently have islet amyloid and persons with Alzheimer’s dementia commonly show amyloid plaque in their brains. Whether amyloid deposition is pathogenic or physiological remains unknown in clinical medicine and experimental research. Here we use amyloid as an example to explore the limitations of using eyes, microscopes and light waves. Furthermore, scientists themselves also have inherited limitations in recognizing the true nature of amyloid. The same amyloid protein manifests totally different characteristics from the perspectives of men, bacteria and other creatures. Therefore, we propose to avoid any overuse of medical facilities and technologies in both clinical practice and basic research. In order to understand the true nature, the limitations of tools, methods and examiners should be kept in mind when making decision and diagnosis based on the data obtained from personal observation.