Roles of carbon monoxide in kidney disease

Carbon monoxide（CO）is an endogenous gas signaling molecule released through a degradation of heme in the presence of heme oxygenase（HO）. Recent studies have demonstrated that a low concentration of CO had diverse effects of anti-inflammatory，anti-oxidant，anti-apoptotic and vasodilation. Thus it played protective roles in renal diseases through mediating ischemia-reperfusion renal injury，sepsis-related acute kidney injury，toxic nephropathy and diabetic nephropathy. This review summarized the roles and mechanisms of CO in kidney pathophysiology and examined the impacts of CO on the pathogenesis of kidney diseases.