Clinical Applications for Gasotransmitters in the Cardiovascular System: Are We There Yet?

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 15; p. 12480
• Main Authors: Arrigo, Elisa, Comità, Stefano, Pagliaro, Pasquale, Penna, Claudia, Mancardi, Daniele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.08.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: carbon monoxide; Cardiomyocytes; cardioprotection; Cardiovascular system; Endothelium; Heart attacks; Homeostasis; hydrogen sulfide; Investigations; Ischemia; nitric oxide; Physiology; Potassium; reperfusion; Review; Smooth muscle; nitric oxide; hydrogen sulfide; carbon monoxide; cardioprotection; clinical trials; reperfusion; ischemia
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms241512480

Ischemia is the underlying mechanism in a wide variety of acute and persistent pathologies. As such, understanding the fine intracellular events occurring during (and after) the restriction of blood supply is pivotal to improving the outcomes in clinical settings. Among others, gaseous signaling molecules constitutively produced by mammalian cells (gasotransmitters) have been shown to be of potential interest for clinical treatment of ischemia/reperfusion injury. Nitric oxide (NO and its sibling, HNO), hydrogen sulfide (H S), and carbon monoxide (CO) have long been proven to be cytoprotective in basic science experiments, and they are now awaiting confirmation with clinical trials. The aim of this work is to review the literature and the clinical trials database to address the state of development of potential therapeutic applications for NO, H S, and CO and the clinical scenarios where they are more promising.