Red blood cells are more than bags of hemoglobin. The membrane is responsible for limiting the interaction of nitric oxide with hemoglobin, which deactivates th

Red blood cells are more than bags of hemoglobin. The membrane is responsible for limiting the interaction of nitric oxide with hemoglobin, which deactivates the NO and causes vessel contraction. There may also be active release of NO by RBCs under hypoxic conditions, but I don't think we've proved that yet. This is interesting work, but a long way from being safe and practical. Edit: Sorry, wrong link. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00125/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.0012...