Abstract
Purpose
Current evidence suggests that erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), including erythropoietin and darbepoetin, may have a direct cardio-protective effect. However, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy and safety of ESAs in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have yielded heterogeneous results. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of RCTs to assess whether the administration of ESAs can improve cardiac functional parameters, such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), and attenuate infarct size in patients with acute STEMI.
Methods and results
The PubMed, EBSCO, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched for relevant RCT studies on ESAs published before May 13, 2011. A total of nine RCTs involving 1,244 participants were identified. The original data of these studies were aggregated using fixed effect models. Compared with controls, the administration of ESAs showed a slight but significant improvement in LVEF (1.38%; 95% confidence interval 0.38–2.37%; p = 0.007). However, no significant improvement in LVEDV, LVESV, and infarct size was observed, and no increase in all-cause severe adverse effect was indicated.
Conclusions
Our meta-analysis indicates that the superiority of ESAs over conventional therapy in patients with acute STEMI is limited using current procedures. However, there is evidence to suggest that the timing and dosing of ESA administration may be optimized. Moreover, the long-term cardio-protective effect of ESAs in this patient population may be beneficial and worth exploring.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- AMI:
-
Acute myocardial infarction
- EPO:
-
Erythropoietin
- EPOR:
-
Erythropoietin receptors
- ESAs:
-
Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents
- LVEF:
-
Left ventricular ejection fraction
- LVEDV:
-
Left ventricular end diastolic volume
- LVESV:
-
Left ventricular end-systolic volume
- PCI:
-
Percutaneous coronary intervention
- STEMI:
-
ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction
References
Jelkmann W (1992) Erythropoietin: structure, control of production, and function. Physiol Rev 72(2):449–489
Mehta JL (2008) Erythropoietin in cardioprotection: does it have a future or is it all in the past? Cardiovasc Res 79(4):549–550
Noguchi CT, Wang L, Rogers HM, Teng R, Jia Y (2008) Survival and proliferative roles of erythropoietin beyond the erythroid lineage. Expert Rev Mol Med 10:e36
Riksen NP, Hausenloy DJ, Yellon DM (2008) Erythropoietin: ready for prime-time cardioprotection. Trends Pharmacol Sci 29(5):258–267
Ferrario M, Arbustini E, Massa M, Rosti V, Marziliano N, Raineri C, Campanelli R, Bertoletti A, De Ferrari GM, Klersy C, Angoli L, Bramucci E, Marinoni B, Ferlini M, Moretti E, Raisaro A, Repetto A, Schwartz PJ, Tavazzi L (2011) High-dose erythropoietin in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a pilot, randomised, placebo-controlled study. Int J Cardiol 147(1):124–131
Najjar SS, Rao SV, Melloni C, Raman SV, Povsic TJ, Melton L, Barsness GW, Prather K, Heitner JF, Kilaru R, Gruberg L, Hasselblad V, Greenbaum AB, Patel M, Kim RJ, Talan M, Ferrucci L, Longo DL, Lakatta EG, Harrington RA (2011) Intravenous erythropoietin in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: REVEAL: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 305(18):1863–1872
Suh JW, Chung WY, Kim YS, Kim KI, Jeon EJ, Cho YS, Youn TJ, Chae IH, Kim CH, Choi DJ (2011) The effect of intravenous administration of erythropoietin on the infarct size in primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Int J Cardiol 149(2):216–220
Ott I, Schulz S, Mehilli J, Fichtner S, Hadamitzky M, Hoppe K, Ibrahim T, Martinoff S, Massberg S, Laugwitz KL, Dirschinger J, Schwaiger M, Kastrati A, Schmig A (2010) Erythropoietin in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention: a randomized, double-blind trial. Circ Cardiovasc Interv 3(5):408–413
Ozawa T, Toba K, Suzuki H, Kato K, Iso Y, Akutsu Y, Kobayashi Y, Takeyama Y, Kobayashi N, Yoshimura N, Akazawa K, Aizawa Y (2010) Single-dose intravenous administration of recombinant human erythropoietin is a promising treatment for patients with acute myocardial infarction - randomized controlled pilot trial of EPO/AMI-1 study. Circ J 74(7):1415–1423
Taniguchi N, Nakamura T, Sawada T, Matsubara K, Furukawa K, Hadase M, Nakahara Y, Nakamura T, Matsubara H (2010) Erythropoietin prevention trial of coronary restenosis and cardiac remodeling after ST-elevated acute myocardial infarction (EPOC-AMI): a pilot, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Circ J 74(11):2365–2371
Voors AA, Belonje AM, Zijlstra F, Hillege HL, Anker SD, Slart RH, Tio RA, van’t Hof A, Jukema JW, Peels HO, Henriques JP, Ten Berg JM, Vos J, van Gilst WH, van Veldhuisen DJ (2010) A single dose of erythropoietin in ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Eur Heart J 31(21):2593–2600
Binbrek AS, Rao NS, Al Khaja N, Assaqqaf J, Sobel BE (2009) Erythropoietin to augment myocardial salvage induced by coronary thrombolysis in patients with ST segment elevation acute myocardial infarction. Am J Cardiol 104(8):1035–1040
Lipsic E, van der Meer P, Voors AA, Westenbrink BD, van den Heuvel AF, de Boer HC, van Zonneveld AJ, Schoemaker RG, van Gilst WH, Zijlstra F, van Veldhuisen DJ (2006) A single bolus of a long-acting erythropoietin analogue darbepoetin alfa in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a randomized feasibility and safety study. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 20(2):135–141
Juni P, Altman DG, Egger M (2001) Systematic reviews in health care: assessing the quality of controlled clinical trials. Br Med J 323(7303):42–46
Higgins JP, Thompson SG, Deeks JJ, Altman DG (2003) Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. Br Med J 327(7414):557–560
Nagel E, Klein C, Paetsch I, Hettwer S, Schnackenburg B, Wegscheider K, Fleck E (2003) Magnetic resonance perfusion measurements for the noninvasive detection of coronary artery disease. Circulation 108(4):432–437
Moon C, Krawczyk M, Ahn D, Ahmet I, Paik D, Lakatta EG, Talan MI (2003) Erythropoietin reduces myocardial infarction and left ventricular functional decline after coronary artery ligation in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100(20):11612–11617
Calvillo L, Latini R, Kajstura J, Leri A, Anversa P, Ghezzi P, Salio M, Cerami A, Brines M (2003) Recombinant human erythropoietin protects the myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury and promotes beneficial remodeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100(8):4802–4806
Hirata A, Minamino T, Asanuma H, Fujita M, Wakeno M, Myoishi M, Tsukamoto O, Okada K, Koyama H, Komamura K, Takashima S, Shinozaki Y, Mori H, Shiraga M, Kitakaze M, Hori M (2006) Erythropoietin enhances neovascularization of ischemic myocardium and improves left ventricular dysfunction after myocardial infarction in dogs. J Am Coll Cardiol 48(1):176–184
van der Meer P, Lipsic E, Henning RH, de Boer RA, Suurmeijer AJ, van Veldhuisen DJ, van Gilst WH (2004) Erythropoietin improves left ventricular function and coronary flow in an experimental model of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Eur J Heart Fail 6(7):853–859
Tramontano AF, Muniyappa R, Black AD, Blendea MC, Cohen I, Deng L, Sowers JR, Cutaia MV, El-Sherif N (2003) Erythropoietin protects cardiac myocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis through an Akt-dependent pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 308(4):990–994
Heeschen C, Aicher A, Lehmann R, Fichtlscherer S, Vasa M, Urbich C, Mildner-Rihm C, Martin H, Zeiher AM, Dimmeler S (2003) Erythropoietin is a potent physiologic stimulus for endothelial progenitor cell mobilization. Blood 102(4):1340–1346
Moon C, Krawczyk M, Paik D, Lakatta EG, Talan MI (2005) Cardioprotection by recombinant human erythropoietin following acute experimental myocardial infarction: dose response and therapeutic window. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 19(4):243–250
Lipsic E, van der Meer P, Henning RH, Suurmeijer AJ, Boddeus KM, van Veldhuisen DJ, van Gilst WH, Schoemaker RG (2004) Timing of erythropoietin treatment for cardioprotection in ischemia/reperfusion. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 44(4):473–479
Lu X, Gross AW, Lodish HF (2006) Active conformation of the erythropoietin receptor: random and cysteine-scanning mutagenesis of the extracellular juxtamembrane and transmembrane domains. J Biol Chem 281(11):7002–7011
Philo JS, Aoki KH, Arakawa T, Narhi LO, Wen J (1996) Dimerization of the extracellular domain of the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor by EPO: one high-affinity and one low-affinity interaction. Biochemistry 35(5):1681–1691
Syed RS, Reid SW, Li C, Cheetham JC, Aoki KH, Liu B, Zhan H, Osslund TD, Chirino AJ, Zhang J, Finer-Moore J, Elliott S, Sitney K, Katz BA, Matthews DJ, Wendoloski JJ, Egrie J, Stroud RM (1998) Efficiency of signalling through cytokine receptors depends critically on receptor orientation. Nature 395(6701):511–516
Kajstura J, Cheng W, Reiss K, Clark WA, Sonnenblick EH, Krajewski S, Reed JC, Olivetti G, Anversa P (1996) Apoptotic and necrotic myocyte cell deaths are independent contributing variables of infarct size in rats. Lab Invest J Tech Methods Pathol 74(1):86–107
Crow MT, Mani K, Nam YJ, Kitsis RN (2004) The mitochondrial death pathway and cardiac myocyte apoptosis. Circ Res 95(10):957–970
Mancini DM, Katz SD, Lang CC, LaManca J, Hudaihed A, Androne AS (2003) Effect of erythropoietin on exercise capacity in patients with moderate to severe chronic heart failure. Circulation 107(2):294–299
Ehrenreich H, Weissenborn K, Prange H, Schneider D, Weimar C, Wartenberg K, Schellinger PD, Bohn M, Becker H, Wegrzyn M, Jahnig P, Herrmann M, Knauth M, Bahr M, Heide W, Wagner A, Schwab S, Reichmann H, Schwendemann G, Dengler R, Kastrup A, Bartels C (2009) Recombinant human erythropoietin in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Stroke 40(12):e647–e656
Ghali JK, Anand IS, Abraham WT, Fonarow GC, Greenberg B, Krum H, Massie BM, Wasserman SM, Trotman ML, Sun Y, Knusel B, Armstrong P (2008) Randomized double-blind trial of darbepoetin alfa in patients with symptomatic heart failure and anemia. Circulation 117(4):526–535
Liem A, van de Woestijne AP, Bruijns E, Roeters van Lennep HW, de Boo JA, van Halteren HK, van Es TP, Jukema JW, van der Laarse A, Zwinderman AH, van Veldhuisen DJ (2009) Effect of EPO administration on myocardial infarct size in patients with non-STE acute coronary syndromes; results from a pilot study. Int J Cardiol 131(2):285–287
van der Meer P, Groenveld HF, Januzzi JL Jr, van Veldhuisen DJ (2009) Erythropoietin treatment in patients with chronic heart failure: a meta-analysis. Heart 95(16):1309–1314
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 81100386) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant no. 1107021461), P.R. China. There was no pharmaceutical industry support for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Juan Li and Huiyan Xu contributed equally to this paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, J., Xu, H., Gao, Q. et al. Effect of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a systematic review. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 68, 469–477 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-011-1160-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-011-1160-y