Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Sep 1;6(8):706-11.
eCollection 2013.

Circulating levels of erythropoietin and its relation to arterial stiffness in patients with hypertension

Omer Gedikli  1 , Abdulkadir Kiris, Caner Karahan
Affiliations

Circulating levels of erythropoietin and its relation to arterial stiffness in patients with hypertension

Omer Gedikli et al. Int J Clin Exp Med. .

Abstract

Background: Emerging experimental and clinical data indicates that erythropoietin (EPO) have significant roles in the cardiovascular system. But the relationship between endogenous EPO levels and arterial stiffness remains unknown. We investigated the EPO levels in relation to arterial stiffness parameters in patients with never treated newly diagnosed hypertension (HT).

Methods: We studied 42 (47.8 ± 10 years) never treated HT patients and age and gender-matched 40 (47 ± 8.6 years) normotensive individuals. Serum EPO levels were determined in all subjects using the chemiluminescence immunoassay kit. We evaluated heart rate-corrected augmentation index (AIx@75), a marker of wave reflections and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) as indices of elastic-type aortic stiffness using applanation tonometry (Sphygmocor).

Results: The levels of EPO were not significantly different in hypertensive patients and the controls (10.6 ± 5 vs. 11.6 ± 9, mIU/mL, p = 0.5). Aortic PWV (10.3 ± 2.3 vs. 8.7 ± 1.6 m/s, p = 0.0001) and AIx@75 (22.7 ± 10 vs. 15 ± 11, %, p = 0.002) were significantly higher in hypertensive patients than the controls. EPO levels were not correlated with brachial and central pressures. Also EPO level was not significantly correlated with AIx@75 (r = -0.15, p = 0.17) and aortic PWV (r = -0.16, p = 0.13).

Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that endogenous EPO levels may not be a factor in development of increased arterial stiffness.

Keywords: Erythropoietin; arterial stiffness.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Laurent S, Boutouyrie P, Asmar R, Gautier I, Laloux B, Guize L, Ducimetiere P, Benetos A. Aortic stiffness is an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive patients. Hypertension. 2001;37:1236–1241. - PubMed
    1. Nürnberger J, Keflioglu-Scheiber A, Opazo Saez AM, Wenzel RR, Philipp T, Schäfers RF. Augmentation index is associated with cardiovascular risk. J Hypertens. 2002;20:2407–2414. - PubMed
    1. Laurent S, Cockcroft J, Van Bortel L, Boutouyrie P, Giannattasio C, Hayoz D, Pannier B, Vlachopoulos C, Wilkinson I, Struijker-Boudier H. European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries: Expert consensus document on arterial stiffness: methodological issues and clinical applications. Eur Heart J. 2006;27:2588–2605. - PubMed
    1. Laurent S, Boutouyrie P. Recent Advances in Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Human Hypertension. Hypertension. 2007;49:1202–1206. - PubMed
    1. Henry DH, Bowers P, Romano MT, Provenzano R. Epoetin alfa. Clinical evolution of a pleiotropic cytokine. Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:262–76. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources