With age, our bodies get to enjoy some weird and wonderful things. Our brains go a little foggy, we make more noises when we stand up, and new research has found we might even end up with tiny bone-like particles running around the bloodstream.

随着年龄的增长，我们的身体开始享受一些奇怪而美妙的东西。我们的大脑会变得有点模糊，站起来时身体会发出更多的声音，新的研究发现，我们甚至可能最终会在血液中发现细小的骨状颗粒。

That kind of stuff coursing through your blood vessels doesn't sound good - obviously - but this finding might take us closer to understanding some of the issues that may strike our cardiovascular system with age.

这种穿过血管的东西听上去不太好——很明显——但这项发现可能会让我们更进一步了解一些，可能随着年龄增长而影响心血管系统的问题。
We've long known that sometimes tissue within the human body can start to resemble bone. This is due to a process called calcification – the accumulation of calcium salts in said tissue. Such accumulation can present as gallstones or kidney stones, become bone spurs, or even end up in other parts of the body.

我们早就知道，人体内的组织有时会开始类似骨骼。这是由于一个叫做钙化的过程——钙盐在组织中的积聚。这种堆积可以表现为胆结石或肾结石，成为骨刺，甚至最终出现在身体的其他部位。

Sometimes, this mineral build-up can happen in blood vessels, leading to the unsurprisingly named vascular calcification. This process is associated with ageing, but can also be linked to diabetes, hypertension, or kidney disease.

有时，这种矿物质的积聚会发生在血管中，导致血管钙化，这一点不足为奇。这一过程与衰老有关，但也可能与糖尿病、高血压或肾病有关。

Despite knowing that vascular calcification happens, researchers still don't have a complete picture of the processes inside our blood that lead to minerals accumulating in the walls of our blood vessels.

尽管知道血管钙化会发生，但是研究人员仍然没有一个完整的图像，来描述我们血液中导致矿物质在血管壁中积聚的过程。

In this latest study, researchers led by University of Texas kinesiology professor Rhonda Prisby now report the presence of strange bone-like particles - and they could have something to do with vascular disease.

在这项最新的研究中，由德克萨斯大学运动学教授朗达·普里斯比领导的研究人员，报告了奇怪的骨样颗粒的存在——它们可能与血管疾病有关。

"The major finding of this investigation is the discovery of bone-like particles in the peripheral circulation of humans and rats," the team writes in their paper.

研究小组在论文中写道：“这项研究的主要发现，是在人和老鼠的外周循环中发现了骨样颗粒。”

In a previous study authored by Prisby, she characterised severe calcification in the blood vessels that are found in bone marrow, indicating that both in rat samples and human patients these vessels looked as if they'd turned to bone, or ossified.

在普里斯比之前的一项研究中，她描述了在骨髓中发现的血管严重钙化的特征，这表明无论是在大鼠样本中还是在人类患者中，这些血管看起来像是变成了骨头，或是骨化了。

The investigation also indicated the presence of bone-like particles in those ossified blood vessels. So in this study, the researchers explored further to see if these particles might move from bone marrow into peripheral circulation.

研究还表明，这些血管骨化中存在骨样颗粒。因此，在这项研究中，研究人员进一步研究了这些颗粒，是否可能从骨髓转移到外周循环。

"Presumably, ossified particles originate during the processes of bone marrow blood vessel ossification and are capable of entering into the peripheral circulation," the team writes.

研究小组写道：“据推测，骨化颗粒起源于骨髓血管骨化过程，能够进入外周循环。”

"Thus, in addition to examining ossified bone marrow blood vessels via ultra-high microscopy, we sought to confirm, characterise and quantify the presence of ossified particles in peripheral whole blood samples from humans and rats."

因此，除了通过超高显微镜检查骨化骨髓血管外，我们还试图确认、表征和量化人和大鼠的外周全血样本中，是否存在骨化颗粒。
Although the researchers used only a small number of human samples - including bone marrow vessels in a tibia coming from an amputated leg, and blood samples from 12 volunteers - the results are rather interesting, and a little concerning.

尽管研究人员只使用了少量的人体样本，包括截肢腿胫骨的骨髓血管和12名志愿者的血液样本，但结果相当有趣，也有点令人担忧。

"While the majority of the ossified particles were small in diameter (<15 μm), a significant number were of sufficient size (>15 μm) to block small blood vessels throughout the vascular tree," the researchers explain in their study.

研究人员在他们的研究中解释说：“虽然大多数骨化颗粒的直径很小(<15μm)，但有相当数量的颗粒足够大(>15μm)，会阻塞整个血管树的小血管。”

Although the number of ossified particles didn't appear to increase with the age of the patient, the size of them did. The six younger patients had particles ranging in size from 1-29 μm, while the six older patients' particles ranged from 1-66 μm.

尽管骨化颗粒的数量并没有随着患者的年龄而增加，但它们的大小却增加了。6名年轻患者的颗粒大小为1-29μm，6名老年患者的颗粒大小为1-66μm。

The team also investigated the size of these particles in rats, but found that there were no significant changes by age, although there was a limitation in being able to discern bone-like particles from the tiny blood cells called platelets.

研究小组还研究了这些颗粒在大鼠体内的大小，但发现，随着年龄的增长没有明显的变化，尽管，从被称为血小板的微小血细胞中辨别骨样颗粒存在局限性。

"Future investigations will require the elimination of platelets from the whole blood sample in order to decipher any age-related increases in the number of [bone-like particles]," the team notes, adding the importance of larger sample sizes to further investigate this phenomenon.

“未来的研究将需要从全血样本中清除血小板，以破译任何与年龄相关的[骨样颗粒]数量的增加。”研究小组指出，补充更大样本尺寸，对进一步研究这一现象的重要性。

The most important aspect of these particles might well be their shape - a potential clue to how their circulation in the blood could contribute to the development of cardiovascular problems.

这些微粒最重要的，很可能是它们的形状——它们在血液中的循环，可能会导致心血管疾病的发展，这是一个潜在的线索。

"Some of the ossified particles have sharp tips and edges that could damage the lining of blood vessels," says Prisby.

普里斯比说：“有些骨化的颗粒尖端和边缘很锋利，可能会损坏血管内壁。”

"This damage could initiate events leading to atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque), which can restrict blood flow over time."

这种损伤会引发动脉粥样硬化(斑块的形成)，而随着时间的推移，动脉粥样硬化会而限制血流。

The research has been published in Microcirculation.

这项研究发表在《微循环》杂志上。