In mice, and perhaps in humans, this effect is mediated by the skin. Prolonged exposure to reduced oxygen levels (e.g., living at high altitude) leads to increased synthesis of EPO. Perhaps an EPO-induced increase in their hematocrit - leading to a reduction in heart rate - is responsible. This difference can be detected by a test of the athlete's urine.Īnother problem: since recombinant EPO became available, over two dozen young competitive cyclists have died unexpectedly (usually during the night).
Although recombinant EPO has exactly the same sequence of amino acids as the natural hormone, the sugars attached by the cells used in the pharmaceutical industry differ from those attached by the cells of the human kidney. Some cyclists (and distance runners) have used recombinant EPO to enhance their performance. Severe blood loss in Jehovah's Witnesses, whose religion forbids them to receive blood transfusions, can also be helped with recombinant EPO.īecause EPO increases the hematocrit, it enables more oxygen to flow to the skeletal muscles.Recombinant EPO improves the anemia that is such a frequent side effect of cancer chemotherapy.Recombinant EPO helps AIDS patients cope with this one of the many problems that the disease creates. Some of the drugs used to treat AIDS, zidovudine (AZT) for example, cause anemia as a side effect.Now, thanks to recombinant DNA technology, recombinant human EPO is available to treat these patients. Without a source of EPO, these patients suffer from anemia. People with failing kidneys can be kept alive by dialysis, which only cleanses the blood of wastes. Stimuli such as bleeding or moving to high altitudes (where oxygen is scarcer) trigger the release of EPO. \)Įrythropoietin is a glycoprotein that acts on the bone marrow to increase the production of red blood cells.
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