Carbon Monoxide Against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: A Tour into the Immune System

Carbon monoxide (CO) is quickly moving past its historic label as a molecule once feared, to a therapeutic drug that modulates inflammation. The development of carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CO-RM) and utilization of heme oxygenase-1 inducers have shown CO to be a promising therapy in reducing renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and other inflammatory diseases. In this chapter, we will discuss the developments and application of CO-RM in renal IRI, and organ transplantation as well as the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of CO in respect to mitigating apoptosis, suppressing dendritic cell maturation and signalling, inhibiting toll-like receptor activation, promoting anti-inflammatory responses, and the effects on renal vasculature.