ANN ARBOR, Mich. Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas that kills
thousands of Americans every year, could turn out to be a life-
saver for patients recovering from organ transplants, strokes or
heart attacks, according to new research from the University of
Michigan Cardiovascular Center. In a recent study, U-M
scientists found that inhaling small amounts of carbon monoxide
for several weeks after transplant surgery prevented the
development of a lethal inflammatory reaction in experimental
mice receiving transplanted trachea, or windpipes. If carbon
monoxide therapy works as well in human patients as it does in
mice, it could prevent an inflammatory response, called
obliterative bronchiolitis, which develops in nearly 50 percent
of all patients who receive a lung transplant from an unrelated
donor. OB is the most common complication following a lung
transplant in humans and the most deadly. It occurs when the
patient's immune system rejects the transplanted lung and sends
an army of T cells to attack and destroy