Coronavirus Treatment: Drug Banned In Sports Found Effective In Fighting COVID-19

Erythropoietin (EPO) – a commonly used anemia medication can also be effective against COVID-19, pointed out new research. Keeping in mind the current therapeutic situation in COVID-19, any measure to improve disease course and outcome of seriously ill individuals is of utmost importance.

The experts at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Gottingen revealed that EPO could mitigate severe disease progression and protect infected patients from long-term neurological effects when the novel coronavirus attacks the brain.

Since initial case studies indicate a positive effect of the anemia drug, they are planning to conduct a randomized clinical trial to systemically investigate the drug’s effect in treating COVID-19.

At the end of March, a COVID-19 patient with severe illness was admitted to an Iranian hospital. Since he had poor blood values, he was administered the hematopoietic growth factor EPO. A week later, the patient was able to leave the hospital, mentioned News Medical.

Another case of COVID-19 from South America also indicated the protective role of EPO.

“In the present COVID-19 pandemic, we suggest short-term supportive EPO treatment of severely affected patients, which we expect to improve disease course and outcome. Although case reports always call for extreme caution, two recently published/submitted case studies on EPO in seriously ill COVID-19 patients are encouraging for the present concept,” said the researchers in their paper published in Molecular Medicine.

EPO helps maintain the production of red blood cells during fetal, neonatal as well as adult life by inhibiting cell death. It is released as a natural reaction to oxygen deficiency and also helps improve the oxygen supply to the brain and muscles. Athletes sometimes exploit this effect by taking synthetic EPO as a doping agent. By injecting EPO, athletes increase their aerobic capacity and the drug is banned in sports because it can improve athletic performance.

EPO is expected to improve respiration, counteract overshooting inflammation caused by cytokine storm, and offer neuroprotective and neurogenerative benefits in the brain and peripheral nervous system.

The researchers have also observed that dialysis patients withstand the coronavirus infection remarkably well. It is these patients who regularly receive erythropoietin.

Animal studies have demonstrated that EPO acts on areas of the brain stem and spinal cord that control breathing. EPO also has an anti-inflammatory effect on immune cells and could help protect against neurological symptoms like headaches, dizziness, seizures, and loss of smell and taste.

“Because Covid-19 can have such severe health-related consequences, we must investigate any evidence of a protective effect of EPO. After all, there is currently neither a vaccine nor a medication for the disease. We are therefore preparing a 'proof-of-concept study' to investigate the effect of EPO on Covid-19 in humans," News Medical quoted Hannelore Ehrenreich, Scientist, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine.