Nitric oxide gas helps “unglue” hemoglobin molecules that form long chains, deforming red blood cells and causing pain. A new study showed nitric oxide reduced the length of unnatural hemoglobin strands, weakened the strands and helped the cells form a more normal shape.
This finding may lead to a non-addictive treatment for sickle cell. Currently the only approved therapy is hydroxyurea, which helps the body create more fetal hemoglobin, which cannot sickle. However, patients with recurring pain crises usually need increasingly higher doses of stronger narcotics to manage the pain.
Read the Georgia Health Sciences University release on the effect of nitric oxide gas on pain crises of sickle cell disease.
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