Posted by Iansf on January 30, 2008, at 12:02:25
Erythropoietin May Have Antidepressant Activity
By David Douglas
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 23 - The action of erythropoietin on brain responses to emotional information suggests that the agent may be of use in combating depression, according to UK researchers.
"Our findings provide support to the idea that erythropoietin affects neurocognitive function in ways compatible with an antidepressant action and may be a candidate agent for future treatment strategies for depression," lead investigator Kamilla Miskowiak told Reuters Health.
The findings are in the December 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Miskowiak, of Warneford Hospital in Oxford, and colleagues studied 23 healthy volunteers who were given an injection of saline or of 40,000 IU of erythropoietin. One week later, the subjects underwent functional MRI while they were presented with a random series of images of fearful, happy or neutral faces. The volunteers used a response pad to indicate whether the faces expressed happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, anger or disgust.
The team found that erythropoietin reduced neural response to fearful faces in the occipito-parietal cortex in a manner consistent with reduced attention to fear. It also reduced recognition of fearful facial expressions without affecting recognition of the other expressions.
Thus, concluded Miskowiak, "if the beneficial effects of erythropoietin on brain function in the present proof-of-concept study translate into clinical efficacy in treatment of depression, this would have profound impact on patient health and economic burden for society in the future."
Biol Psychiatry 2007;62:1244-1250.EPOETIN ALFA (Epogen®, Procrit®) is a man-made form of erythropoietin, which stimulates the production of red blood cells. Sometimes, your body does not make enough erythropoietin, and that may cause anemia. Epoetin alfa acts treats anemia associated with chronic kidney failure, cancer chemotherapy, or HIV-therapy. Epoetin alfa may also be used before surgery if you have anemia. Generic epoetin alfa injections are not available.
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