An antidote on the horizon for carbon monoxide poisoning!

[thewayne]

This is really cool. Researchers found a bacterium that binds to CO very effectively and synthesized a protein that seeks it out in your blood, removing it from hemoglobin, which then lets the hemoglobin return to its normal job of carrying oxygen through your body! In mice tests, 50% of the CO was removed in ONE MINUTE. The bound CO is then removed through urine!

I'm guessing a double bag IV of the protein and saline to get the bag in and to increase the need to pee. Hopefully it could be part of a paramedic's kit.

According to the article, CO binds to hemoglobin 200-400x more effectively than oxygen, which is what makes CO poisoning so deadly. And the only treatment currently is flooding the victim with oxygen, often in a pressure chamber, which is still a slow process. In the US, there are 50,000 ER visits for CO poisoning and 1,500 deaths.

The question is, of course, how long until this makes it to market and how expensive will the treatment be.

https://newatlas.com/disease/first-antidote-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/

https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/14/0010227/first-antidote-for-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-cleans-blood-in-minutes

Comments

[ranunculus]

That is very cool. I am grateful to the mice subjects for being there to be tested.
I wonder if there could be similar technologies for divers. That is nitrogen, not CO, but...

[thewayne]

Divers could certainly benefit from a similar tech, all depends on finding the right protein to bind to the molecule.  I know a guy who's wife is a mouse caretaker at National Institutes of Health!

[ranunculus]

Somebody has to do it. I've always rather liked little mice, when they weren't wrecking havoc on my home or garden.

[armiphlage]

So much better than hyperbaric chambers, with the risk of fire!

[thewayne]

Yeah, I've read of a couple of deaths recently from hyperbaric chamber deaths in non-hospital/doctor situations!  Pretty horrifying.

[disneydream06]

If it's a good thing that works, it will take forever to get on the market. UGH!!!!!!
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Any drug takes forever to get to market.

[disneydream06]

Unless we are in a pandemic. LOL......

[thewayne]

There, the basics of the drug were already tested.  We knew the carrier of mRNA was valid.  And it was kinda extenuating circumstances.

[kathmandu]

Wooooowwwww. That is cool. I hope it will be useful.

[silveradept]

That's a promising start to what would be a very good treatment to have on hand. Being able to piss out the poison would be a fitting way of handling things.

[kellan_the_tabby]

oh SWEET