Antioxidants & redox signaling
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Antioxid. Redox Signal. · Aug 2013
Ferric Iron and Cobalt (III) compounds to safely decrease hydrogen sulfide in the body?
To sort out the putative roles of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in clinical conditions wherein systemic inflammation or hypoxia is present, it becomes crucial to develop approaches capable of affecting H2S concentration that can be safely applied in humans. We have investigated a paradigm, which could achieve such a goal, using vitamin B12 (vit. B12), at the dose recommended in cyanide poisoning, and very low levels of methemoglobin (MetHb). ⋯ Three to five percent MetHb prevented H2S induced hyperventilation in vivo and decreased exogenous H2S in vitro by 25-40 μM within 30 s. Our observations lead to the hypothesis that innocuous levels of MetHb and vit. B12 could be a used as an effective and safe way to test the role of endogenous H2S in vivo.