Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of Erythropoietin in Septic Patients

Abstract

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection injures its own tissues and organs. Sepsis causes millions of deaths globally each year and is the most common cause of death in people who have been hospitalized. Despite significant advances in understanding the pathophysiology of sepsis, mortality from the disease remains unacceptably high. Management of sepsis is largely supportive, and outside of antibiotics, no therapy aimed at treating sepsis is universally accepted. There is a huge gap between rapid scientific advances at the bench and translating these advances into clinical practice. Erythropoietin is one of the new therapies which has been reported to improve survival in animal models with sepsis. Erythropoietin is a multi-functional cytokine. It acts as key regulator of erythropoiesis and is used clinically to treat anemia resulting from chemotherapy or chronic kidney disease. It also has a number of effects outside of the hematopoietic system. It carries anti-apoptotic and immune modulatory activities on binding to its receptors which have been identified in a variety of cells.