Carbon monoxide (CO) is an endogenous gasotransmitter produced by the degradation of heme in the presence of heme oxygenase (HO) in mammals. It has been demonstrated that CO participates in a variety of physiological activities and pathological processes, and is closely related to cell protection and homeostasis maintenance in organ tissues. It has been shown by a growing number of studies that CO may play a regulatory and interventional role in the process of the occurrence and development of pain through a variety of mechanisms of action. However, its mechanism of action is still not fully understood and the uncontrollable factors concerning CO administration also placed considerable limitation to its application. This paper reviews the potential targets and pathways of CO in pain regulation and discusses the challenges and opportunities in the clinical application of CO in order to provide suggestions for further exploration and development of CO analgesics.
一氧化碳（carbon monoxide，CO）是一种由哺乳动物体内血红素氧化酶（heme oxygenase，HO）催化血红素降解产生的重要内源性气体信号传导分子。CO参与了生物体内多种生理活动和病理过程，并与器官组织中的细胞保护和稳态维持密切有关。越来越多的研究表明，CO能够通过多种作用机制，在痛觉的发生、发展过程中发挥调节干预作用，但其作用机制尚未完全明确，且给药方式的不可控因素也使其应用受到较大限制。本文旨在梳理CO在疼痛调控中可能的靶点和途径，并对CO临床应用中所面临的挑战和机遇进行讨论，为CO镇痛药物的进一步研发提供线索。
Keywords: Carbon monoxide; Gasotransmitter; Nociception; Pain and analgesia.
Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences).