Erythropoietin and polyneuropathy in older persons.
BACKGROUND
Recent studies demonstrated that erythropoietin (EPO) have a number of non-erythropoietic effects including neuroprotection and vascular protection.


METHODS
Using data from a representative sample of older persons, we tested the hypothesis that EPO levels are correlated with peripheral nerve parameters (NVC and CMAP) assessed by surface ENG and with clinically diagnosed polyneuropathy. We selected 972 participants (aged 60-98 years) with complete data for the analyses.


RESULTS
We found a significant association between EPO and age-adjusted NCV and CMAP (for NCV: 0.57+/-0.26; p = 0.03 and for CMAP: 0.54+/-0.23; p = 0.02). In logistic regression models adjusting for age, sex and multiple potential confounders, higher EPO levels were associated with a significantly lower probability of having a clinical diagnosis of polyneuropathy (OR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22-0.84).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that EPO is implicated in the pathogenesis of polyneuropathy in older persons. Whether low EPO is a risk factor for polyneuropathy should be tested in future longitudinal analyses.
Lauretani
Fulvio
F
Tuscany Regional Health Agency, Florence, Italy.
Bandinelli
Stefania
S
Strotmeyer
Elsa S
ES
Corsi
Anna Maria
AM
Di Iorio
Angelo
A
Guralnik
Jack M
JM
Ferrucci
Luigi
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D011115:Polyneuropathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011336:Probability
D004921:Erythropoietin