FASEB J：促红细胞生成素（EPO）或许能促发机体运动

在药企不断开发出安全的减肥药的大背景下，近日，一项新的研究报告称，他们从一个全新的角度：如果有一丸，能使你运动更加卖力那或许是件非常奇妙的事。这可能听起来很奇怪，但这项发表在FASEB杂志上的报告表明，这一设想是有可能实现的。瑞士研究人员发现，当小鼠脑中促红细胞生成素（EPO）升高时，它们会更加主动地去运动。此外，这些实验中使用的促红细胞生成素并没有提高红细胞计数。

瑞士苏黎世大学兽医生理学研究所Max Gassmann研究员说：在这里，我们表明促红细胞生成素能促发锻炼的动机。

Gassmann和他的同事用小鼠三种类型来进行实验：那些没有接受促红细胞生成素注射的老鼠、那些注射人促红细胞生成素的老鼠、大脑中产生人促红细胞生成素的转基因老鼠。研究人员发现未接受EPO的小鼠的运行性能明显较其它两组低。FASEB杂志主编Gerald Weissmann说：随着越来越多的人超重和肥胖，我们必须从各个角度来解决这一问题。这一研究结果可能用来治疗包括老年痴呆症、肥胖等在内的疾病。

doi:10.1096/fj.11-191197 fj.11-191197
PMC:
PMID:

Acute and chronic elevation of erythropoietin in the brain improves exercise performance in mice without inducing erythropoiesis

Beat Schuler*, Johannes Vogel*, Beat Grenacher*, Robert A. Jacobs*, Margarete Arras and Max Gassmann*

Application of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) improves exercise capacity by stimulating red blood cell production that, in turn, enhances oxygen delivery and utilization. Apart from this, when applied at high doses, rhEpo crosses the blood-brain barrier, triggering protective neuronal effects. Here we show a fundamental new role by which the presence of Epo in the brain augments exercise performance without altering red blood cell production. Two different animal models, the transgenic mouse line Tg21, which constitutively overexpresses human Epo exclusively in the brain without affecting erythropoiesis, and wild-type mice treated with a single high dose of rhEpo, demonstrate an unexpected improvement in maximal exercise performance independent of changes in total hemoglobin mass, as well as in whole blood volume and cardiovascular parameters. This novel finding builds a more complete understanding regarding the central effects of endogenously produced and exogenously applied Epo on exercise performance.—Schuler, B., Vogel, J., Grenacher, B., Jacobs, R. A., Arras, M., Gassmann, M. Acute and chronic elevation of erythropoietin in the brain improves exercise performance in mice without inducing erythropoiesis.