Table 3 Cited Properties of CO as a Medical Gas with Suggested Chemical/Biological Mechanisms.
Biochemical Mechanism | Notes |
|---|---|
radical scavenging antioxidant | • binds to the heme moiety of mitochondrial cytochrom c oxidase. By binding to the heme, CO may prevent degradation of heme proteins which induce tissue injury by rapidly promoting peroxidation of the lipid membranes of cells [74, 75]. |
|  | • reduces mitochondria-derived ROS thus resulting in lower levels of ROS generation in which an adaptive cellular response is triggered leading to cell survival rather than cell death [76–78]. |
|  | • can induce HO-1 in cells to protect against injury [79–81]. Thus, detrimental excess of heme can be immediately removed by HO-1 enzymatic activity induced by CO. |
decrease radiosensitivity | • impedes O2 transport as it binds to hemoglobin with an affinity 240 times higher than that of O2. |