Low doses of recombinant human erythropoietin does not affect C-terminal FGF23 in healthy men

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  • Bejder, Jacob
  • Paul Robach
  • Anne-Kristine Lundby
  • Catherine Cornu
  • Pierre Sallet
  • Gaetano Cairo
  • Carsten Lundby

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) can improve human performance, but misuse remains difficult to detect. C-terminal fibroblast growth factor 23 (cFGF23) was recently demonstrated to increase following injection of a single high dose rhEpo, but the effect of more frequent low doses is unknown. Using a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled design, we investigated whether 2 weeks of subcutaneous injections three times a week of 50 IU/kg Eprex (low-dose) or 20 IU/kg Eprex (micro-dose) increase cFGF23 levels compared with saline (placebo) injections in 24 healthy males. Venous blood was sampled at day -3, 0, 1, 3, 11, 14, 18, and 25 of the treatment and analyzed for cFGF23 and erythropoietin concentration ([EPO]). The level of cFGF23 was similar at days -3, 0, 1, 3, 11, 14, 18, and 25 with the low-dose (23 ± 4, 26 ± 5, 23 ± 7, 27 ± 6, 25 ± 8, 24 ± 10, 22 ± 5, and 24 ± 7 RU/mL, respectively), micro-dose (23 ± 6, 25 ± 5, 23 ± 8, 28 ± 9, 27 ± 7, 25 ± 9, 25 ± 5, and 23 ± 6 RU/mL, respectively) and placebo (23 ± 6, 24 ± 6, 26 ± 7, 26 ± 6, 31 ± 6, 31 ± 7, 24 ± 4, and 27 ± 8 RU/mL, respectively) treatment. The correlation coefficient between plasma [EPO] and plasma cFGF23 levels was R2 = 0.01 and insignificant. The results demonstrate that cFGF23 is not sensitive to low doses of subcutaneous rhEpo injections in healthy males.

Original languageEnglish
JournalDrug Testing and Analysis
Volume12
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)975-979
Number of pages5
ISSN1942-7603
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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