Hormone erythropoietin protect premature babies

The hormone erythropoietin (EPO) could prevent brain injuries in very premature babies, BBC News reports, citing a study.

Brain scans show EPO - used illegally by athletes to boost performance - may help infants when given after birth.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved almost 500 babies born between 26 and 31 weeks in Switzerland.

The researchers are calling for wider trials of the hormone, which is already given to some babies to treat anaemia.
Erythropoietin is a hormone that stimulates production of red blood cells.

Synthetic EPO is used to treat conditions such as anaemia, where there are fewer red blood cells than normal.

It may also be given to premature babies to reduce the need for blood transfusions.

In the Swiss study, a team at the University Hospital of Geneva found that premature infants had a reduced risk of brain injury, as assessed by brain scans, when given three doses of EPO shortly after birth.

Babies given EPO had lower rates of injury to both the brain's white matter (22% compared with 36% in the control group) and the grey matter (7% versus 19%).

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