Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
J Breath Res. 2013 Mar;7(1):017111. doi: 10.1088/1752-7155/7/1/017111. Epub 2013 Feb 27.
Carbon monoxide (CO), a low molecular weight gas, is a ubiquitous environmental product of organic combustion, which is also produced endogenously in the body, as the byproduct of heme metabolism. CO binds to hemoglobin, resulting in decreased oxygen delivery to bodily tissues at toxicological concentrations. At physiological concentrations, CO may have endogenous roles as a potential signaling mediator in vascular function and cellular homeostasis. Exhaled CO (eCO), similar to exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), has been evaluated as a candidate breath biomarker of pathophysiological states, including smoking status, and inflammatory diseases of the lung and other organs. eCO values have been evaluated as potential indicators of inflammation in asthma, stable COPD and exacerbations, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, or during surgery or critical care. The utility of eCO as a marker of inflammation and its potential diagnostic value remain incompletely characterized. Among other candidate 'medicinal gases' with therapeutic potential, (e.g., NO and H2S), CO has been shown to act as an effective anti-inflammatory agent in preclinical animal models of inflammatory disease, acute lung injury, sepsis, ischemia/reperfusion injury and organ graft rejection. Current and future clinical trials will evaluate the clinical applicability of this gas as a biomarker and/or therapeutic in human disease.
一氧化碳（CO）是一种低分子量气体，是有机燃烧产生的普遍存在的环境产物，也是体内血红素代谢的副产品。CO 与血红蛋白结合，导致有毒浓度下向身体组织输送的氧气减少。在生理浓度下，CO 可能作为血管功能和细胞内稳态的潜在信号介质发挥内源性作用。呼出气 CO（eCO）与呼出气一氧化氮（eNO）相似，已被评估为候选呼吸生物标志物，可用于评估生理病理状态，包括吸烟状态以及肺部和其他器官的炎症性疾病。eCO 值已被评估为哮喘、稳定期 COPD 和加重期、囊性纤维化、肺癌或手术或重症监护期间炎症的潜在指标。eCO 作为炎症标志物的效用及其潜在的诊断价值仍未完全确定。在具有治疗潜力的其他候选“药用气体”中，（例如，NO 和 H2S），CO 已被证明在炎症性疾病、急性肺损伤、败血症、缺血/再灌注损伤和器官移植排斥的临床前动物模型中作为有效的抗炎剂。目前和未来的临床试验将评估这种气体作为生物标志物和/或在人类疾病中的治疗应用的临床适用性。
