ERitropoietina, ormone tuttofare

Over the past two decades it has been shown that, in addition to erythropoietic activity, erythropoietin (EPO) has numerous other functions, including neuro-protective, anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, angiogenic and immunomodulatory functions. EPO action is expressed through the interaction with two different forms of its receptor (EPOR): a homodimeric, responsible for the erythropoietic effects, and a heterodimeric one, responsible for the non-erythropoietic effects. Stimulation of this latter receptor has also been shown to be effective in prolonging organ transplant survival, both in murine models and in humans. The development of new molecules that act selectively on heterodimeric EPOR, devoid of erythropoietic activity, has allowed to begin to evaluate the effect of long-term treatments, avoiding the possible complications, mainly of a cardiovascular nature, linked to the increase in the hematocrit.