Pharmacological Reviews, Vol 2, 324-354, Copyright © 1950 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

CARBON MONOXIDE

¹ Physiological Division, Department of medicine, The Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland

In the recent years steady progress has been made in flling in the details of well-grounded concepts of the action of CO; and newer observations have led into unexpected developments. A wide spectrum of biological processes not dependent on hemoglobin have been found to be impaired by CO. Skeletal and cardiac muscle, and the intact animal as well, have been shown clearly to possess the capacity of oxidizing CO to CO₂. The basic relations of CO, O₂ and Hb both in static and dynamic systems have been explored with profitable clarification of the fundamentals. More precise measurements are available now to define those factors which modify the rate of uptake and elimination of CO in man. The higher resolution of technics for assessing function in man have provided evidence of the impairment produced by small amounts of CO. The phenomena associated with acclimatization have been under study but the mechanisms are unexplained. A large number of special systems are altered by exposure to CO, but in many it is not clear yet whether these effects are specific for CO or rather simply general reactions to any restriction in the normal delivery of O₂ to tissues. Therapy available for CO poisoning is based primarily on the fundamental relations of CO, O₂ and Bb.