Carbon monoxide is perhaps best known as a potentially deadly gas. However, in small doses it actually has beneficial qualities: It has been shown to reduce inflammation and can help stimulate tissue regeneration.
A team of scientists has now devised a novel way to deliver carbon monoxide to the body while bypassing its potentially harmful effects. Inspired by techniques used in molecular gastronomy, they were able to incorporate carbon monoxide into stable foams that can be delivered to the digestive tract. The study was led by researchers from MIT, Brigham and Women's Hospital, the University of Iowa, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
[...] Since the late 1990s, Otterbein has been studying the therapeutic effects of low doses of carbon monoxide. The gas has been shown to impart beneficial effects in preventing rejection of transplanted organs, reducing tumor growth, and modulating inflammation and acute tissue injury.
When inhaled at high concentrations, carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in the blood and prevents the body from obtaining enough oxygen, which can lead to serious health effects and even death. However, at lower doses, it has beneficial effects such as reducing inflammation and promoting tissue regeneration, Otterbein says.
[...] In these experiments, the researchers did not find any adverse effects after the carbon monoxide administration. Previous studies in humans have shown that small amounts of carbon monoxide can be safely inhaled. A healthy individual has a carbon monoxide concentration of about 1 percent in the bloodstream, and studies of human volunteers have shown that levels as high as 14 percent can be tolerated without adverse effects.
"We think that with the foam used in this study, we're not even coming close to the levels that we would be concerned about," Otterbein says. "What we have learned from the inhaled gas trials has paved a path to say it's safe, as long as you know and can control how much you're giving, much like any medication. That's another nice aspect of this approach — we can control the exact dose."
In this study, the researchers also created carbon-monoxide containing gels, as well as gas-filled solids, using techniques similar to those used to make Pop Rocks, the hard candies that contain pressurized carbon dioxide bubbles. They plan to test those in further studies, in addition to developing the foams for possible tests in human patients.
Journal Reference:
James D. Byrne, David Gallo, Hannah Boyce, et al., Delivery of therapeutic carbon monoxide by gas-entrapping materials, Science Translational Medicine, 14, 651, 2022. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abl4135
(Score: 0) by normalguy on Thursday July 21 2022, @05:59AM (1 child)
CO is already used to make red meat appear, um, not so dead, as in redder. So why wouldn't it work on live humans? This is Soylent, is it not? And What is Soylent made of? I knew you knew.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday July 21 2022, @12:24PM
At least in the default theme, this site is indeed pretty red.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.