Sub-anesthetic Xenon Increases Erythropoietin Levels in Humans: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background The licensed anesthetic xenon, which exerts organ protective properties, was recently added by the World Anti-Doping Agency to the list of prohibited substances. Xenon is supposed to trigger the production of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and subsequently erythropoietin, but data are limited to in vivo experimental work. Therefore we evaluated the effect of xenon on erythropoietin levels in healthy persons.