Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0687, USA.
Annu Rev Pathol. 2011;6:365-93. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pathol-011110-130315.
Although humans are genetically very similar to the evolutionarily related nonhuman hominids (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans), comparative studies suggest a surprising number of uniquely human differences in the incidence and/or severity of biomedical conditions. Some differences are due to anatomical changes that occurred during human evolution. However, many cannot be explained either by these changes or by known environmental factors. Because chimpanzees were long considered models for human disease, it is important to be aware of these differences, which appear to have been deemphasized relative to similarities. We focus on the pathophysiology and pathobiology of biomedical conditions that appear unique to humans, including several speculative possibilities that require further study. We pay particular attention to the possible contributions of uniquely human changes in the biology of cell-surface sialic acids and the proteins that recognize them. We also discuss the metabolic incorporation of a diet-derived nonhuman sialic acid, which generates a novel xeno-autoantigen reaction, and chronic inflammation known as xenosialitis.
尽管人类在基因上与进化上相关的非人类原始人（黑猩猩、倭黑猩猩、大猩猩和猩猩）非常相似，但比较研究表明，在生物医学状况的发生率和/或严重程度方面，人类存在许多令人惊讶的独特差异。一些差异是由于人类进化过程中发生的解剖结构变化引起的。然而，许多差异既不能用这些变化也不能用已知的环境因素来解释。由于黑猩猩长期以来被认为是人类疾病的模型，因此了解这些差异很重要，这些差异相对于相似之处似乎被淡化了。我们专注于生物医学状况的病理生理学和病理生物学，这些状况似乎是人类独有的，包括一些需要进一步研究的推测性可能性。我们特别关注细胞表面唾液酸和识别它们的蛋白质的生物学中人类特有的变化可能产生的影响。我们还讨论了饮食中摄入的非人类唾液酸的代谢，这种唾液酸会产生一种新的异种自身抗原反应和慢性炎症，称为异种唾液腺炎。
