Endogenous Carbon Monoxide Production

IT has been known since the late nineteenth century that blood of man and animals contains small quantities of carbon monoxide (CO)1; however, only in relatively recent years has it been possible to demonstrate that CO is produced in the body,2 , 3 to make measurements of rates of CO production and to work out some of the processes that influence this rate and the quantity of CO in the body stores. The rate of CO production (Vco) in young normal resting human male subjects averages 0.42 ± 0.07 ml per hour STPD† (6.1 μ1 per hour per kilogram). . . .