A cure 'identified' for carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colourless gas made when fossil fuels burn incompletely. It creates hallucinations in low quantities.  It's also a silent killer.

Hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency room visits  can be attributed to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning every year world wide. While CO detectors and making sure your fireplace and heaters work correctly and not inhaling smoke can help prevent exposure, treatment options are limited for those suffering from CO poisoning.

The most common carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Because it mimics the flu, people may experience symptoms without realizing the danger and delay seeking treatment.

If you are exposed to carbon monoxide, the primary treatment right now is fresh air. It is a question of time. In fresh air, you need four to six hours for the level of CO in your blood to be cut in half. With 100 percent oxygen or hyperbaric oxygen, the half-life shortens further. Even then, the high blood levels of CO can persist long enough to lead to long-term deficits and neurological problems.

Scientists have been studying the chemistry of carbon monoxide, which is made of one oxygen atom and one carbon atom joined by a triple bond. In a biological context, CO binds to metal centers like the iron in hemoglobin, which then prevents this protein from functioning as it normally would, transporting oxygen from the lungs to tissues in the rest of the body.

To mitigate this, researchers have designed small molecules that possess many of the features of the active site of hemoglobin but can bind CO much more tightly than the protein. In a recent paper published in Chemical Communications, they described the ability of one such molecule to bind CO, sequester CO that is already bonded to hemoglobin, and rescue red blood cells exposed to CO, all promising signs for a future antidote.

These are early results, but the hope is to create a point-of-care treatment that can be administered quickly.

Daniel G. Droege et al, A water-soluble iron-porphyrin complex capable of rescuing CO-poisoned red blood cells, Chemical Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1039/D1CC05542A