Background & Aim: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) formerly was important in Turkey. Saffron cultivation has been decreased and it is now only cultivated in three villages in this country. It is triploid and exclusively propagated in a vegetative way by corms. In Turkey, saffron is traditionally planted by placing corms in rows randomly without grading or sorting; which results in placement...

OBJECTIVE Carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs) represent a pharmacological alternative to CO gas inhalation. Here, we questioned whether CORM-3, a well-characterized water-soluble CORM, could prevent and reverse pulmonary hypertension (PH) in chronically hypoxic mice and in smooth muscle promoter 22 serotonin transporter mice overexpressing the serotonin transporter in smooth muscle cell...

Carbon monoxide (CO) releasing molecules (CO-RMs) have been shown to inhibit growth of commensal Escherichia coli (E. coli). In the present study we examined the effect of CORM-2 on uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) that produces extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL). Viability experiments showed that CORM-2 inhibited the growth of several different ESBL-producing UPEC isolates and that 500 μM CORM-2...

We investigated gene expression patterns that occur during taro corm development. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis identified several different prevalent proteins that accumulate during corm development. Microsequencing studies indicated that some of these proteins are related to taste-modifying proteins, such as curculin and miraculin, and proteins found in other storage organs, such as spo...

Endogenous CO, a product of heme oxygenase activity, has vasodilator and cytoprotective effects in the cerebral circulation of newborn pigs. CO-releasing molecule (CORM)-A1 (sodium boranocarbonate) is a novel, water-soluble, CO-releasing compound. We addressed the hypotheses that CORM-A1 1) can deliver CO to the brain and exert effects of CO on the cerebral microvasculature and 2) is cerebropro...

Treatment of urinary tract infections is today a challenge due to the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). There is an urgent need for new treatment strategies for multidrug-resistant UPEC and preferably with targets that have low potential for development of resistance. Carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs) are novel and poten...

We recently reported that carbon monoxide (CO) has bactericidal activity. To understand its mode of action we analysed the gene expression changes occurring when Escherichia coli, grown aerobically and anaerobically, is treated with the CO-releasing molecule CORM-2 (tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer). Microarray analysis shows that the E. coli CORM-2 response is multifaceted, with a high n...

The protective role of hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) in various inflammatory conditions is mediated in part by its products, carbon monoxide (CO) and biliverdin. Here we investigated a therapeutic role for CO and CO-primed cells in acute pancreatitis (AP). In a mouse model of AP, treatment with CO-releasing molecule-2 (CORM-2) decreased mortality, pancreatic damage, and lung injury. CORM-2 decreased s...