How a deadly poison became a potential cure for heart attacks
In short: Carbon monoxide is usually synonymous with toxicity. However, elephant seals have spent millions of years evolving a way to use this gas as a biological shield. By studying these deep-divers, scientists hope to unlock new therapies for strokes, organ transplants, and severe tissue inflammation.
Elephant seals are masters of extreme physiology. They routinely dive to depths of 500 meters and remain underwater for 25 minutes, a feat that requires restricting blood flow to nonessential tissues. Remarkably, these tissues do not suffer damage during these periods of restricted circulation. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have identified that high levels of circulating carbon monoxide in the seals' blood may provide a protective, anti-inflammatory effect against such stress. During the mid-1950s, Lewis Pugh from the National Institute for Medical Research initially identified this anatomical anomaly. While monitoring men in an Antarctic base, Pugh found surprisingly high carbon monoxide levels in the blood of Weddell seals. It wasn't until the 1960s that scientists realized mammals produce this gas when haemoglobin and myoglobin proteins degrade.
By the early 1990s, the scientific community began to recognize that while carbon monoxide is a toxin at high levels, it can be therapeutic at moderate concentrations. Current research suggests that carbon monoxide can improve outcomes after heart attacks and organ transplants by reducing inflammation. While the exact mechanism remains unknown, elephant seals serve as a unique model because they maintain these therapeutic levels naturally. For instance, while many marine mammals exhale about 6 parts per million of the gas—comparable to a heavy smoker—the elephant seal exhales 40 parts per million. Understanding how these animals manage this system could help refine clinical trials for human lung injuries and sepsis.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How Studying Elephant Seals Could Treat Heart Attacks
- Also: Elephant Seals Reveal Anti-Inflammatory Secrets of Carbon Monoxide
- Also: What Elephant Seals Can Tell Us About Using Carbon Monoxide to Heal
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