Myoglobin (MB) (MB)

Myoglobin is a monomeric, heme-containing protein primarily located in the cardiac and skeletal muscle of vertebrates [1, 8]. Its primary biological role is to store oxygen and facilitate its diffusion to mitochondria, thereby supporting aerobic metabolism during muscle contraction [8, 12]. Beyond oxygen transport, myoglobin acts as a scavenger of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and it can function as a nitrite reductase under hypoxic conditions to produce NO and regulate vasodilation [11, 17]. Clinically, myoglobin is a critical biomarker; its release into the bloodstream following muscle injury (rhabdomyolysis) or myocardial infarction serves as an early indicator of tissue damage [2, 9]. However, elevated systemic myoglobin is a potent protoxin that can cause acute kidney injury through the induction of oxidative stress and direct toxic effects on renal tubular cells [8, 16]. While not a traditional therapeutic target for drugs, its levels are monitored to assess the safety and efficacy of treatments for muscle and heart conditions [7, 9].

Other names

MBMyohemoglobinMyohaemoglobin

Not applicable; myoglobin is primarily a biomarker and protoxin rather than a therapeutic drug target.