From Tom Nash
Sherborne, Dorset
Long before the biological effect of nitric oxide was discovered
(24 November, p 38),
it was known that its iron coordination compound,
nitroprusside, had the same effect when injected as a soluble salt.
Nitric oxide at higher than physiological concentrations is bad for you
because it binds to haemoglobin even more strongly than carbon monoxide does. In
view of this similarity it might be worthwhile testing some soluble metal
co-ordination compound of carbon monoxide, also by injection, rather than making
patients breathe the gas.
