Deleterious myocardial consequences induced by intermittent hypoxia are reversed by erythropoietin

The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of different recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) doses on the infarction development and if rhEPO could protect against the deleterious consequences induced by a previous intermittent hypoxia (IH, FiO2 5%, 4 h). First, isolated rat hearts were submitted to an ischemia–reperfusion. rhEPO was infused before or after ischemia, at different doses. Secondly, rats were exposed to of IH. Twenty-four hours later, hearts underwent the ischemia–reperfusion protocol. For some hearts, 5 U ml−1 rhEPO was infused as previously. We observed that rhEPO has a dose-dependant effect on infarct size since it was significantly reduced by rhEPO infusions before or after ischemia. We also showed that 4 h of IH induced a higher sensitivity to the infarction which was prevented by rhEPO. In conclusion, rhEPO administration before or after ischemia can protect isolated rat myocardium in a dose dependent manner and efficiently prevents the higher sensitivity to the infarction induced by previous intermittent hypoxia.