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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many people think of carbon monoxide as a deadly gas to be avoided at all costs.
Some scientists would beg to differ. In small amounts, the gas relieves troublesome inflammation in the body. Now, researchers from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered how this works. Carbon monoxide, they report, causes mitochondria -- the power engine of cells -- to release chemical signals to reduce or even shut down the inflammatory response.
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The finding could have significant implications for a wide range of conditions where inflammation plays a role, like organ transplants. While noting inflammation is a good thing in most cases -- it's the body's way of dealing with foreign substances -- study authors write it can sometimes cause more harm than good. The primary reason why transplants are rejected, for example, is because of unmanageable inflammation.
Study authors write one day doctors could use inhaled carbon monoxide to treat people who have received transplants or other patients who need to control inflammation. Inhaled carbon monoxide has already proven successful in easing transplant rejection, vascular injury, inflammatory bowel disease, and other conditions in animal studies.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The FASEB Journal, 2007;21:1099-1106
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