Research progress on the relationship between erythropoietin and retinopathy of prematurity

Abstract

With the development of perinatal medicine technology, the survival rate of premature infants has been greatly improved. The birth gestational age and birth weight of viable premature infants have also been continuously reduced. However, the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP)and anemia in premature infants has also been increased accordingly. Currently, recombinant human erythropoietin(rhEPO)can be used to treat anemia in premature infants. In addition to promoting bone marrow red blood cell production, erythropoietin(EPO)can also regulate angiogenesis and inhibit apoptosis of neural cells and so on. Therefore, when rhEPO is clinically used to treat anemia in premature infants, it may affect ROP on the other hand. The impact of EPO on ROP may be two-fold, which means it can not only protect but also aggravates ROP. This review summarizes the basic research and clinical research on the relationship between EPO and ROP and analyzes the effects of endogenous EPO, exogenous EPO and different initial time and dosage of EPO on ROP.

Keywords

• erythropoietin
• retinopathy of prematurity
• basic research
• clinical research