The gas is also showing promise for treating other chronic and acute inflammatory conditions, the New Scientist reported in this week's edition. However the odorless and invisible gas is dangerous in high doses because it is taken up and stored by red blood cells instead of oxygen. It results in insufficient oxygen transport around the body.
The gas has been trialled on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by scientists at the University Medical Centre, Groningen, in the Netherlands. The gas is produced naturally in the body as a by-product of some chemical reactions.
The Dutch team gave 18 people a low dose of carbon monoxide for two hours on four consecutive days and then measured the level of a certain type of immune cell linked to inflammation in the lung mucus of the patients. It was found that, on average, the cell had fallen by a third.
The lungs themselves also became more resistant to the effects of an irritating chemical, BBC reports. The gas has also been shown in trials to alleviate damage to newly transplanted kidneys when they are starved of oxygen during transit to a patient.
