The regulating role of endogenous carbon monoxide in blood vessel

Similar to nitric oxide (NO) playing a key role in vascular regulating,carbon monoxide (CO) is another endogenous gaseous signal molecule after it.Under physiological condition,CO can relax vessels and inhibit the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells.CO may participate in the development of hypertension,atherosclerosis,pulmonary hypertension and vascular calcification under pathophysilogic condition.In this review,we summarized the production,metabolism and vascular regulation of endogenous CO under physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions. Key words: Carbon Monoxide ; Vessel;  Regulation