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Trial reportJournal of translational medicine2020

Erythropoietin prevents necrotizing enterocolitis in very preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial.

Yong Wang, Juan Song, Huiqing Sun, Falin Xu, Kenan Li, Chunxia Nie, Xiaoli Zhang, Xirui Peng, Lei Xia, Ziyun Shen and 10 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of translational medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03919500 (Erythropoietin Protects Very Preterm Infants Against Necrotizing Enterocolitis), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT03919500 phase2completednot on this map

Erythropoietin Protects Very Preterm Infants Against Necrotizing Enterocolitis

TypeinterventionalSponsorZhengzhou UniversityRan2014 to 2019Enrolled1,285ConditionsPremature InfantArmsEPO, Normal saline
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Definitions of neonatal Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) in randomised controlled trials: a systematic review.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Evolutionary bridges: how factors present in amniotic fluid and human milk help mature the gut.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024
    Review
  13. Erythropoietin and retinopathy of prematurity: a retrospective cohort study in Japan, 2008-2018.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. [Effect of gut microbiota homeostasis on hematopoiesis in a neonatal rat model of necrotizing enterocolitis].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2023
    Article
  16. Screening inflammatory protein biomarkers on premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2023
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Yong WangHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Juan SongHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Huiqing SunDepartment of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450018, China.
Falin XuHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Kenan LiHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Chunxia NieDepartment of Neonatology, Women and Children Health Care Center of Luoyang, Luoyang, 471000, China.
Xiaoli ZhangHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Xirui PengHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Lei XiaHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Ziyun ShenDepartment of Neonatology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Xiao YuanHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Shan ZhangHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Xue DingHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Yaodong ZhangDepartment of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450018, China.
Wenqing KangDepartment of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450018, China.
Liling QianDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Wenhao ZhouDepartment of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Xiaoyang WangHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Xiuyong ChengDepartment of Neonatology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Changlian ZhuHenan Key Laboratory of Child Brain Injury, Department of Neonatology, Institute of Neuroscience and Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China. changlian.zhu@neuro.gu.se.ORCID 0000-0002-5029-6730
Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University · CNZhengzhou University · CNChildren's Hospital of Fudan University · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University · CNKarolinska Institutet · SELuoyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNecrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most severe complications in very preterm infants, but there are currently no accepted methods to prevent NEC. Studies have shown that erythropoietin (EPO) has the potential to prevent NEC or improve outcomes of preterm NEC. This study aimed to determine whether recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) could protect against NEC in very preterm infants.

methodsThe study was a prospective randomized clinical trial performed among four NICU centers. A total of 1327 preterm infants with gestational age ≤ 32 weeks were admitted to the centers, and 42 infants were excluded leaving 1285 eligible infants to be randomized to the rhEPO or control group. Infants in the rhEPO group were given 500 IU/kg rhEPO intravenously every other day for 2 weeks, while the control group was given the same volume of saline. The primary outcome was the incidence of NEC in very preterm infants at 36 weeks of corrected gestational age.

resultsA total of 1285 infants were analyzed at 36 weeks of corrected age for the incidence of NEC. rhEPO treatment significantly decreased the incidence of NEC (stage I, II and III) (12.0% vs. 17.1%, p = 0.010), especially confirmed NEC (stage II and III) (3.0% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.027). Meanwhile, rhEPO treatment significantly reduced the number of red blood cells transfusion in the confirmed NEC cases (1.2 ± 0.4 vs. 2.7 ± 1.0, p = 0.004). Subgroup analyses showed that rhEPO treatment significantly decreased the incidence of confirmed NEC at gestational age < 28 weeks (p = 0.019), and the incidence of all stages NEC in preterm infants with hemoglobin < 90 g/l (p = 0.000) and 5 min Apgar score > 5 (p = 0.028).

conclusionRepeated low-dose rhEPO treatment is beneficial against NEC in very preterm infants. Trial registration The protocol was registered retrospectively at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03919500) on April 18, 2019. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03919500.

Indexed as

Enterocolitis, NecrotizingErythropoietinHumansInfantInfant, NewbornInfant, PrematureProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesErythropoietinErythropoietinNecrotizing enterocolitisPreterm infant

Identifiers

PMID32771013
PMCPMC7414749
OpenAlexW3048272183

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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.