ArticleThe Journal of physiology2007
Erythropoietin treatment elevates haemoglobin concentration by increasing red cell volume and depressing plasma volume.
Article in The Journal of physiology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 170 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise interventions in hypoxic environment on cardiovascular function and maximal power output in obese or overweight individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of erythropoietin on athletic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Erythropoietin doping in cycling: lack of evidence for efficacy and a negative risk-benefit.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2013Pooled it
- Ketone monoester plus high-dose glucose supplementation before exercise does not affect immediate post-exercise erythropoietin concentrations versus glucose alone.Physiological reports · 2024Trial
- Recombinant erythropoietin acutely decreases renal perfusion and decouples the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.Physiological reports · 2018Trial
- RhEPO improves time to exhaustion by non-hematopoietic factors in humans.European journal of applied physiology · 2016Trial
- Differences in blood volume components between hyporesponders and responders to erythropoietin alfa: the heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) anemia trial.Journal of cardiac failure · 2013Trial
- A dosing algorithm for erythropoietin alpha in older adults with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction.Cardiovascular therapeutics · 2013Trial
- Haemoglobin mass and running time trial performance after recombinant human erythropoietin administration in trained men.PloS one · 2013Trial
- Haematocrit is invalid for estimating red cell volume: a prospective study in male volunteers.Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue · 2012Trial
- Total haemoglobin mass and red blood cell profile in endurance-trained and non-endurance-trained adolescent athletes.European journal of applied physiology · 2011Trial
- Left ventricular geometry predicts cardiovascular outcomes associated with anemia correction in CKD.Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN · 2009Trial
- Prolonged administration of recombinant human erythropoietin increases submaximal performance more than maximal aerobic capacity.European journal of applied physiology · 2007Trial
- Erythropoiesis-Targeted Doping in Sports: From Improved Oxygen Transport to Cardiovascular Risk.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Review
- Did You Know: Erythropoiesis Is Regulated by Changes in Posture.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Brain Delivery of Antibody-Derived Biologicals for Alzheimer's Disease: An Updated Narrative Review.Antibodies (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Erythropoietin and bone health: Single high-dose administration triggers bone loss in mice.Bone reports · 2026Article
- Carbon monoxide and other "tricks" in sports: does the winner take it all?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Longitudinal pharmacokinetic and safety studies of an antibody-erythropoietin fusion protein for Alzheimer's disease.International journal of pharmaceutics: X · 2025Article
- Strenuous training combined with erythropoietin induces red cell volume expansion-mediated hypervolemia and alters systemic and skeletal muscle iron homeostasis.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2024Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Erythropoietin (Epo) has been suggested to affect plasma volume, and would thereby possess a mechanism apart from erythropoiesis to increase arterial oxygen content. This, and potential underlying mechanisms, were tested in eight healthy subjects receiving 5000 IU recombinant human Epo (rHuEpo) for 15 weeks at a dose frequency aimed to increase and maintain haematocrit at approximately 50%. Red blood cell volume was increased from 2933 +/- 402 ml before rHuEpo treatment to 3210 +/- 356 (P < 0.01), 3117 +/- 554 (P < 0.05), and 3172 +/- 561 ml (P < 0.01) after 5, 11 and 13 weeks, respectively. This was accompanied by a decrease in plasma volume from 3645 +/- 538 ml before rHuEpo treatment to 3267 +/- 333 (P < 0.01), 3119 +/- 499 (P < 0.05), and 3323 +/- 521 ml (P < 0.01) after 5, 11 and 13 weeks, respectively. Concomitantly, plasma renin activity and aldosterone concentration were reduced. This maintained blood volume relatively unchanged, with a slight transient decrease at week 11, such that blood volume was 6578 +/- 839 ml before rHuEpo treatment, and 6477 +/- 573 (NS), 6236 +/- 908 (P < 0.05), and 6495 +/- 935 ml (NS), after 5, 11 and 13 weeks of treatment. We conclude that Epo treatment in healthy humans induces an elevation in haemoglobin concentration by two mechanisms: (i) an increase in red cell volume; and (ii) a decrease in plasma volume, which is probably mediated by a downregulation of the rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis. Since the relative contribution of plasma volume changes to the increments in arterial oxygen content was between 37.9 and 53.9% during the study period, this mechanism seems as important for increasing arterial oxygen content as the well-known erythropoietic effect of Epo.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.