Does Hypoxia and Stress Erythropoiesis Compromise Cardiac Function in Healthy Adults A Randomized Trial Arrebola Moreno, Antonio Luis Casuso Pérez, Rafael Antonio Aragón Vela, Jerónimo Rodríguez Huertas, Jesús Francisco Altitude Haematology Heart Doping Objectives: To investigate whether recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) injections during an altitude training camp impact heart function. Methods: Thirty (12 women) moderately trained subjects stayed at 2320 m altitude for 4 weeks while training. Subjects were randomized to placebo (isotonic saline) or rHuEPO (20 IU/kg body weight) i.v. injections. Transthoracic echocardiography imaging was acquired 3 days after arrival to altitude and prior to the first placebo or rHuEPO injection as well as one day after the last rHuEPO injection three weeks later. Results: rHuEPO did not alter cardiovascular morphology parameters, systolic or diastolic function. In the placebo group, altitude exposure improved left ventricle (LV) systolic function due to an increased twist angle but rHuEPO had no additional effects. Pulmonary arterial systolic pressure was unaffected in either group. Notably, rHuEPO hampered LV untwist rate without affecting LV early filling. Conclusion: rHuEPO provided during mild altitude exposure does not cause any major effects on heart function. The observed alteration in LV untwist induced by rHuEPO is unlikely to have a meaningful clinical effect. 2022-12-07T07:34:58Z 2022-12-07T07:34:58Z 2022-11-05 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Arrebola-Moreno, A.L... [et al.]. Does Hypoxia and Stress Erythropoiesis Compromise Cardiac Function in Healthy Adults? A Randomized Trial. Sports Med - Open 8, 137 (2022). [https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-022-00531-x] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/78317 10.1186/s40798-022-00531-x eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional Springer