Interaction of plasma generated carbon monoxide (CO) with mouse blood hemoglobin

Claire Douat (1) , Pablo Escot Bocanegra (1) , Sébastien Dozias (1) , Robert Eric (1) , Roberto Motterlini (2)

1 GREMI - Groupe de recherches sur l'énergétique des milieux ionisés
2 IMRB - Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale

Carbon monoxide (CO) has a bad reputation due to the potentially lethal consequences when inhaled at high concentrations. However, at low doses CO appears to have many beneficial effects for human health and has a broad spectrum of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-proliferative effects [1],[2]. Plasma can easily generate CO from the dissociation of CO2, as it has been demonstrated in the laser and energy storage fields [3], [4]. In this context, non-equilibrium plasma at atmospheric pressure is an attractive in situ CO source, since it is able to create CO at low doses from CO2 [5]. Moreover, plasma can be used for biomedical applications and intense research is now being conducted on the potential therapeutic use of plasma for the treatment of different pathologies including cancer and skin wounds. Plasmas are very versatile as they possess the capacity to generate large amounts of reactive species combined with electric field, photons and charged particles. Among these are reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), such nitric oxide (NO), which are produced by the interaction of the plasma with air. NO is widely studied in the field of Plasma Medicine due to its biological role as signaling molecule that functions very similarly to CO [6]–[8]. In fact, CO and NO could be highly complementary due to the different chemical reactivity of these two gases with intracellular cellular targets. However, the combination of plasma and CO for biomedical applications remains to be fully explored. This contribution will focus on the challenge to develop a plasma reactor to generate controlled quantities of CO that can be used for therapeutic purposes. The reactor is based on plasma jet configuration where the discharge is produced in a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor equipped with a quartz capillary tube [9]. Helium with small addition of CO2 goes through the device. To assess and quantify the production of CO from plasma, we developed a system whereby mouse blood hemoglobin, a strong scavenger of CO, interacted with the plasma reaction. Once CO binds to hemoglobin, it forms carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), which can be precisely quantified by light absorption. We will present the first results showing that an indirect and a direct plasma treatment have a different influence on the production of CO and its binding to hemoglobin. References [1]R. Motterlini & R. Foresti, Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol, vol. 312, n. 3, C302, (2017). [2]R. Motterlini & L. E. Otterbein, Nature Rev. Drug Discov., vol. 9, n. 9, 728, (2010). [3]H. Hokazono & H. Fujimoto, J. Appl. Phys., vol. 62, no. 5, 1585–1594, (1987). [4]A. Lebouvier, S. A. Iwarere, et al., Energy & Fuels, vol. 27, no. 5, 2712–2722, (2013). [5]C. Douat, P. E. Bocamegra, et al., in 24th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry, 2019. [6]D. B. Graves, IEEE Trans. Radiat. Plasma Med. Sci., vol. 1, no. 4, 281–292, (2017). [7]E. Carbone & C. Douat, Plasma Med., vol. 8, no. 1, 93–120, (2018). [8]V. N. Ayyagari, A. Januszkiewicz, et al., Toxicology, vol. 197, no. 2, 148–163, (2004). [9]T. Darny, J.-M. Pouvesle, et al., Plasma Sources Sci. Technol., vol. 26, no. 4, 045008, (2017).

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Claire Douat, Pablo Escot Bocanegra, Sébastien Dozias, Robert Eric, Roberto Motterlini. Interaction of plasma generated carbon monoxide (CO) with mouse blood hemoglobin. 8th International Conference on Plasma Medicine, Aug 2021, Incheon (on line), South Korea. ⟨hal-03364149⟩