A nonerythropoietic derivative of erythropoietin protects the myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury.

ABSTRACT: The cytokine erythropoietin (EPO) protects the heart from ischemic injury, in part by preventing apoptosis. However, EPO administration can also raise the hemoglobin concentration, which, by increasing oxygen delivery, confounds assignment of cause and effect. The availability of EPO analogs that do not bind to the dimeric EPO receptor and lack erythropoietic activity, e.g., carbamylated EPO (CEPO), provides an opportunity to determine whether EPO possesses direct cardioprotective activity. In vivo, cardiomyocyte loss after experimental myocardial infarction (MI) of rats (40 min of occlusion with reperfusion) was reduced from approximately 57% in MI-control to approximately 45% in animals that were administered CEPO daily for 1 week (50 microg/kg of body weight s.c.) with the first dose ad

SUBMITTER: Fiordaliso F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC548534 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature