Erythropoietin administration to improve graft survival

Patent Number: 7,459,152

The non-hematological uses of erthrypoietin are very interesting.  Studies have demonstrated that erythropoietin can accelerate cardiac healing after infarct, or even have a therapeutic effect on stroke. 

The current patent teaches that erythropoietin may be used in conjunction with transplantation of dopaminergic cells in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease.  Essentially it states that erythropoietin's anti-apoptotic properties contribute to increasing the quality of the neural graft. 

Claim 1 covers "A method of treating Parkinsonism comprising: (a) contacting a tissue graft comprising differentiated dopamine producing neurons with an effective amount of exogenous erythropoietin (EPO) or an isoform or peptide analog of EPO or administering the EPO, an isoform or peptide analog of EPO or combinations thereof to the tissue graft; and (b) administering the tissue graft into a compatible recipient neuronal tissue in a subject suffering from Parkinsonism, wherein the survival of cells in the tissue graft is increased, compared to cells in a tissue graft not contacted with EPO or an isoform or peptide analog thereof, wherein step (a) occurs prior to step (b)."

Companies such as Stem Cell Therapeutics from Calgary are doing clinical trials using erythropoietin plus human chorionic gonadotropin for treatment of stroke.  It will be interesting to see if hCG has synergy in neuronal transplantation as well. 

View this patent on the USPTO website.