A Nonerythropoietic Peptide that Mimics the 3D Structure of Erythropoietin Reduces Organ Injury/Dysfunction and Inflammation in Experimental Hemorrhagic Shock

摘要

Severe hemorrhage accounts for nearly 40% of all trauma deaths and is the leading cause of preventable trauma death. Recent studies have shown erythropoietin (EPO) has cytoprotective effects in a wide variety of tissues. However, it has also been shown to have serious side effects. Patel et al. investigated the effect of pyroglutamate helix B-surface peptide (pHBSP) – a non-erythropoietic, tissue protective peptide that mimics the 3D structure of EPO – on organ injury/dysfunction and inflammation in a model of severe hemorrhagic shock. Their work showed that pHBSP protects against multiple organ injury/dysfunction and inflammation through a mechanism that may involve activation of Akt and endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3β and nuclear factor-?B. This suggests non-hematopoietic analogues of EPO may be viable treatment tools to mimic the tissue-protective effects of EPO without causing the serious well-documented side effects.