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Non-Erythroid Functions of Erythropoietin

  • Conference paper
Hypoxia

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 543))

Abstract

The oxygen-dependent, renal cytokine eythropoietin (Epo) is well known to increase red cell production. Binding of Epo to the Epo receptor (EpoR) represses apoptosis of erythroid progenitor cells, thereby allowing their final maturation. We and others showed that Epo and its receptor are expressed in many other tissues, including brain, spinal cord, retina and testis. The presence of a blood barrier suggests that Epo plays a local role in these organs. Indeed, therapeutically applied or hypoxically induced Epo has been shown to reduce the infarct volume in various stroke animal models, to prevent retinal degeneration, and to ameliorate spinal cord injury. In a study conducted by Ehrenreich and colleagues, stroke patients treated with Epo showed reduced infarct volume, fast neurological recovery and improved clinical outcome. In analogy to its function on erythroid progenitor cells, this neuroprotective effect of Epo might be explained by repression of programmed cell death. Apart from neuroprotection, there is an assumption that Epo present in breast milk has the potential to protect against mother-to-infant transmission of HIV. When using Epo at high doses for longer time periods; however, care has to be taken to control the resulting chronic polycythemia that most probably caused enlarged cerebral infarct volumes in a transgenic mouse model that due to Epo-overexpression reached hematocrit levels of about 0.8. Overall, these data strongly support the notion that Epo will soon find new applications in the clinic.

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Authors
  1. Max Gassmann
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  2. Katja Heinicke
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  3. Jorge Soliz
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  4. Omolara O. Ogunshola
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Colorado Center for Altitude Medicine and Physiology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Robert C. Roach  & Peter H. Hackett (President) &  (President)

  2. University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

    Peter D. Wagner

  3. International Society for Mountain Medicine, Ridgway, Colorado, USA

    Peter H. Hackett (President) (President)

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Gassmann, M., Heinicke, K., Soliz, J., Ogunshola, O.O. (2003). Non-Erythroid Functions of Erythropoietin. In: Roach, R.C., Wagner, P.D., Hackett, P.H. (eds) Hypoxia. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 543. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8997-0_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8997-0_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4753-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8997-0

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