{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T08:51:34Z","timestamp":1777539094406,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,30]],"date-time":"2016-03-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1459296000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The National Research Foundation by The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of Korea","award":["NRF-2010-0020408"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2010-0020408"]}]},{"name":"The National Research Foundation by The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of Korea","award":["NRF-2014R1A2A1A11052042"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2014R1A2A1A11052042"]}]},{"name":"The National Research Foundation by The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of Korea","award":["NRF-2015M3A9B4067068"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2015M3A9B4067068"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) are known to have neuroprotective actions. Based on previous reports showing the synergistic effects of EPO+G-CSF combination therapy in experimental models, we investigated the safety of EPO+G-CSF combination therapy in patients with chronic stroke. In a pilot study, 3 patients were treated with EPO and G-CSF for 5 consecutive days, with follow-up on day 30. In an exploratory double-blind study, 6 patients were allocated to treatment with either EPO+G-CSF or placebo. Treatment was applied once a day for 5 days per month over 3 months. Participants were followed up for 6 months. To substantiate safety, vital signs, adverse events, and hematological values were measured on days 0, 5, and 30 in each cycle and on day 180. Functional outcomes were determined on day 0 and 180. In the laboratory measurements, EPO+G-CSF combination therapy significantly elevated erythropoietin, CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells, white blood cells, and neutrophils on day 5 of each cycle. There were no observations of serious adverse events. In the functional outcomes, the grip power of the dominant hand was increased in the EPO+G-CSF treatment group. In conclusion, this exploratory study suggests a novel strategy of EPO+G-CSF combination therapy for stroke patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms17040463","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,30]],"date-time":"2016-03-30T16:47:27Z","timestamp":1459356447000},"page":"463","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Exploring Erythropoietin and G-CSF Combination Therapy in Chronic Stroke Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yoon-Kyum","family":"Shin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea"},{"name":"Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1429-2684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sung-Rae","family":"Cho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea"},{"name":"Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea"},{"name":"Rehabilitation Institute of Neuromuscular Disease, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea"},{"name":"Yonsei Stem Cell Research Center, Avison Biomedical Research Center, Seoul 03722, Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03402029","article-title":"Erythropoietin therapy for acute stroke is both safe and beneficial","volume":"8","author":"Ehrenreich","year":"2002","journal-title":"Mol. 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