Although preclinical studies have demonstrated that systemic EPO treatment facilitated stroke recovery in experimental stroke models (Gonzalez et al., 2013; Nguyen, Cherry, Scott, Ryou, & Mallet, 2014; Siren et al., 2001; Wang, Zhang, Wang, Zhang, & Chopp, 2004), clinical trials using systemic EPO administration did not consistently show effectiveness and safety in stroke patients (Yao et al., 2017). Here, EPO is linked to stroke disorder.