erythropoetin found to protect heart from doxyrubicin induced cardiomyopathy!!

[Lani]

in a rat model, at least. This is very hopeful, because up to now nothing had been shown to protect the heart from this particular damage, which appeared to be worsened by taking herceptin concurrently and, to a lesser but still significant degree, by taking herceptin following an anthracycline

Erythropoietin Protects Against Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 04 - Erythropoietin improves cardiac function in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy, according to a report in the August European Heart Journal.

"The effect of erythropoietin (Epo) extends beyond its increase in hemoglobin," Dr. Jacob George from Tel Aviv University, Israel told Reuters Health. "Even robust disorders with wide histological changes can be attenuated by Epo."

Dr. George and colleagues investigated whether Epo treatment could improve myocardial performance and mortality in rats with doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy and examined the possible mechanisms for its effects.

The cumulative mortality of untreated rats with doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy was 85%, the authors report, compared with 40% of rats in the low-dose Epo group and 65% of rats in the high-dose Epo group.

Echocardiographic measurements of diastolic and systolic function were significantly better in rats treated with Epo than in rats that received saline, the results indicate.

Histological analysis revealed significantly preserved left ventricular wall thickness and increased vascular density in both Epo groups compared with the control group.

Bone marrow-derived endothelial precursor cells showed increased proliferative and tube-forming capacity after Epo treatment, the researchers note, and endothelial precursor cells from Epo-treated rats protected myocardial performance when transferred into untreated rats with doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy.

"We are now in a stage of testing the effects of Epo in several experimental models," Dr. George said. "It appears that the protective effects of Epo are multiple, and we focus on its effects on endothelial stem cells. We also strongly believe that the anti-oxidative properties are critical."

The team is now planning a multicenter study to test the protective effect of Epo in cardiomyopathy induced by doxorubicin, Dr. George said.

Eur Heart J 2006;27:1876-1883,1767-1768.