A novel effective chemical hemin for the treatment of acute carbon monoxide poisoning in mice

Abstract

There is no effective drug for the therapy of acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential preventive and therapeutic effects of hemin on an animal model of acute CO poisoning and to provide a potential therapeutic candidate drug. A total of 80 Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups, namely the air control, acute CO poisoning, hemin-treatment + CO and hemin-pretreatment + CO groups (n=20 each). Furthermore, the mortality rate of mice, blood carboxyhaemoglobin (HbCO) concentration and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were measured, and pathological changes of the hippocampal area were determined using histochemical staining. The mice with acute CO poisoning had a 50% mortality rate at 1 h, with an increase in blood HbCO, serum MDA levels and pathological impairments of the hippocampus. Furthermore, the mortality rate, blood HbCO and serum MDA levels of mice with pretreatment and treatment of hemin were decreased. Additionally, the pathological changes of the hippocampal area were improved in the hemin-treatment and hemin-pretreatment groups compared with the mice treated with CO. These results suggest that hemin is a novel effective chemical for the prevention and treatment of acute CO poisoning in mice. Therefore, the present study provides a novel method and experimental basis for the application of hemin in treating patients with acute CO poisoning.

A Journey into the Clinical Relevance of Heme Oxygenase 1 for Human Inflammatory Disease and Viral Clearance: Why Does It Matter on the COVID-19 Scene?

“…For example, it has been reported that HO-1 induction decreases inflammation, inhibits platelet aggregation, and increases fibrinolysis and phagocytosis, thus preventing tissue damage, thrombosis and sepsis [ 184 ]. Additionally, hemin is an activator of neuroglobin, a protein involved in oxygen transport and storage in neurons that increases oxygen’s intracellular partial pressure in neurons, and is crucial to protect neurons from hypoxic injury [ 185 , 186 , 187 ]. In addition, as mentioned above, HO-1 has a reported antiviral activity against multiple viruses.…”

Current and research therapies for the prevention and treatment of delayed neurological syndrome associated with carbon monoxide poisoning: A narrative review

“…Another study conducted a preclinical trial using mice exposed to CO. 8 Hemin administration significantly reduced the mortality rate, improved symptoms of acute CO poisoning, and reduced the level of COHb and serum concentration of MDA. Histologically, in the group without treatment, it was observed that there was inflammation of the cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and that the number of pyramidal cells was lower.…”

“…Guan et al 7 Animal experimentation Hemin Hemin prevents the lesion of the hippocampus after CO poisoning and increases survival at 24 h from CO exposure Li et al 8 Animal experimentation Hemin Hemin improved symptoms of CO poisoning, reduced the level of COHb and the serum concentration of MDA Li et al 9 Animal experimentation NBP NBP may inhibit CO-induced early neuronal apoptosis Bi et al 10 Animal experimentation NBP NBP may alleviate damage to the hippocampus produced by CO Wang et al 11 Prospective essay NBP þ MSCT versus NBP versus MSCT Best results in MRI and cognitive tests with combined therapy with NBP or only MSCT Xiang et al 12 Randomized, doubleblind, prospective trial NBP + HBOT Best results in cognitive tests with NBP þ HBOT combined therapy Roderique et al 13 Animal experimentation…”