Friday, March 30, 2007

Anti-inflammatory effects of carbon monoxide

Makes me awfully nervous, since we know that carbon monoxide is a toxic poison.

"Specifically, mitochondria react to low levels of carbon monoxide by releasing chemical signals that reduce or shut down the body's inflammatory response, raising the possibility for the development of new anti-inflammatory therapies, one of which may be low levels of inhaled carbon monoxide."
Researchers seem to be having a good response, though.

"...inhaled medical grade carbon monoxide has been shown to be useful in animal models for organ transplantation, vascular injury, inflammatory bowel disease, organ injury resulting from severe blood loss, as well as experimental hepatitis and experimental pulmonary hypertension."

As long as they can find an effective antidote for overdose, this could be really useful in the future.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070330092813.htm

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