Veterinary use of erythropoietin: between therapy and doping

Abstract

Erythropoietin is a glycoprotein hormone, used as a biological therapy whose main function is the regulation of the erythropoiesis process and the inhibition of apoptosis. It is also used as a doping method which improves competitive physical capacities of race horses by the increasing of the erythroid mass. Its adverse effects ranging from clot formation to the death of the animal. The research was aimed to describe the implications of erythropoietin as biological therapy and / or method of doping of racehorses. It was developed by searching for articles in scientific journals and databases such as Elsevier, pubmed and scielo validating key words in DeCS such as altitude, horses, doping, erythropoietin and hypoxia. Moreover, the inclusion criteria such as validity in selected time and the exclusion of incomplete texts were taken into account. As a result, the 80 articles related to the inclusion criteria were identified, from which the 40 most relevant were selected. Finally, it was concluded that erythropoietin is a fundamental hormone that induces the onset of erythropoiesis, increases erythrocyte mass and improves oxygen transportation to the tissues; besides, unlawfully, it improves competition performance, exposing the animal to side effects and the responsible personnel to ethical and legal implications.