Carbon Monoxide in Plasma Medicine and Agriculture: Just a Foe or a Potential Friend?

摘要

Carbon monoxide is infamously known for its toxicity when administrated in high doses. In this article, we review some of the evidence for therapeutic effects of CO used in biology, when CO is delivered in small quantities. It is argued that plasmas in this context are an attractive in situ source for the process of alleviating the risks related to CO storage. Moreover, synergic effects of CO with other reactive species produced by plasma may be used in the future for applications such as bacterial infection, wound healing, and cancer treatment. Non-equilibrium, low-temperature plasmas are weakly ionized gases that have been very successfully developed for use in different fields including microelectronics, lighting, combustion, nanoscience, and spacecraft propulsion. In the early 21st century, researchers first reported that plasma could potentially be used for biomedical applications. Stoffels et al. were likely the first to show the potential of cold near-room-temperature plasmas in medicine by demonstrating their capability to detach mammalian cells without causing necrotic cell destruction. This study sparked investigations on the potential of plasmas for medical applications, which evolved into a new research field of its own, later termed Plasma Medicine. Related research is now performed for different fields, including cancer treatment, wound healing, blood coagulation, dentistry, cosmetology, sterilization, and decontamination, among others. Many studies have been successful, and the first clinical trials were undertaken in the last few years. Recently, such plasmas have also been studied in regard to their use in the field of agriculture as insecticides, for destruction of bacteria and fungi, and plant-growth enhancement.