On the antioxidant properties of erythropoietin and its association with the oxidative-nitrosative stress response to hypoxia in humans

Abstract

These findings demonstrate that EPO has the capacity to act as a biological antioxidant and provide a mechanistic basis for its reported cytoprotective benefits within the clinical setting.

Erythropoietin: friend and foe!

“…In humans, preliminary work showed that Epo can reduce the infarct size following an acute stroke by penetrating the blood-brain barrier, but the authors failed to replicate their results during a more extensive trial (Ehrenreich et al 2009). The work from Bailey et al (2014) published here sheds a new light on the aforementioned studies. Indeed, while these studies assumed that the effects of (rHu)Epo are secondary to activation of gene expression, it now appears that Epo could also mitigate the acute inflammatory response thanks to its antioxidant properties.…”

“…1 -'Traditional'). Just as one could have thought that we knew everything about this molecule, Bailey et al (2014) have demonstrated that recombinant Epo (rHuEpo) can equally serve as a very potent antioxidant (see Fig. 1 -'Evolving').…”

“…1 -'Evolving'). Indeed, in the current issue of Acta Physiologica, we learn how the authors utilized in the first instance an in vitro approach to demonstrate the antioxidant characteristics of the rHuEpo molecule, which was then followed up by an in vivo experiment that involved exposing healthy volunteers to 12 h of hypoxia (13% oxygen) (Bailey et al 2014). In the in vitro arm, the authors demonstrated that rHuEpo is a potent scavenger of the hydroxyl radical (HO˙), both directly and indirectly, subsequent to catalytic iron chelation.…”

“…The hydroxyl radical is able to react with any biological molecule inducing cellular damage and as such has been linked with vascular ageing (Bailey et al 2010). For the human study, the authors decided to take advantage of inspiratory hypoxia, a model they previously used to induce both erythropoiesis and oxidative-nitrosative stress (Bailey et al 2014). Exposure to hypoxia revealed that the increase in endogenous Epo can help maintain redox homeostasis by limiting the increase in oxidative-nitrosative stress through its antioxidant function.…”

Correlation between erythropoietin serum levels and erythrocyte susceptibility to lipid peroxidation in elderly with type 2 diabetes

“…Recent studies found the recombinant form of EPO (rHuEPO) to be a potent scavenger of HO˙with the capacity to inhibit Fenton chemistry through catalytic iron chelation. Its ability to scavenge peroxyl (ROO˙) radicals, evaluated in vitro, was also superior compared to other antioxidants (5). The indirect antioxidant EPO action could be achieved through iron depletion and thus limitation of iron-dependent oxidative injury, and by increasing new red blood cells (RBC) loaded with a significant amount of antioxidants (1,2,11,16).…”