EPO and brain ischemia: A substantial body of evidence has shown that erythropoietin (Epo) has extra-erythropoietic activities including neural protective effects against a wide variety of acute experimental insults, including spinal cord ischemia and trauma (3, 4), cerebral ischemia (5), bilateral carotid occlusion (6), retinal ischemia caused by uncontrolled intracranial pressure (7), subarachnoid hemorrhage (8), and subdural hematoma (9).