Japan Society for the Promotion of Science:Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
Date (from‐to) : 2016/04 -2019/03
Author : Tamura Tetsuya; AOYAMA Mineyoshi; ASAI Kiyofumi
Erythropoietin (EPO), which is a therapeutic drug for anemia, has recently been known to have a neuroprotective effect, but the mechanism is unknown. In many brain diseases, microglia, which are one of the cells constituting the brain, are often activated. We focused on activated microglia, which damage the brain, and found that microglia have a receptor for EPO.
In this study, experiments were carried out using microglia culture cells and mice, and the neuroprotective effect of EPO was achieved by inhibiting the activity of microglia in the brain, such as inflammatory cytokine production and damaging phagocytosis. EPO may be useful as a therapeutic drug in acute brain diseases in the area of emergency and intensive care.