According to a new paper published in Chemical Science, an oral prodrug developed by a team of scientists led by Professor Wang Binghe in the Department of Chemistry at Georgia State University can provide carbon monoxide to prevent acute kidney injury.

Although carbon monoxide (CO) gas is toxic in large doses, scientists have found that it can have beneficial effects by reducing inflammation and protecting cells from damage. Previous studies have proved that CO has a protective effect on organ damage such as kidney, lung, gastrointestinal tract and liver. For the past five years, Wang and his collaborators have been working on designing a safe method to deliver CO to human patients through prodrugs-inactive compounds that must undergo a chemical process in the body before releasing the active pharmacological agent.