Introduction: Treatment strategies in Parkinson’s disease (PD) can improve a patient’s quality of life but cannot stop the progression of PD. We are looking for different alternatives that modify the natural course of the disease and recent research has demonstrated the neuroprotective properties of erythropoietin. In Cuba, the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) is a cutting edge scientific center where the recombinant form (EPOrh) and recombinant human erythropoietin with low sialic acid (NeuroEPO) are produced. We performed two clinical trials to evaluate the safety and tolerability of these two drugs in PD patients. In this paper we want to show the positive results of the additional cognitive tests employed, as part of the comprehensive assessment. Materials and method: Two studies were conducted in PD patients from the outpatient clinic of CIREN, including n = 10 and n = 26 patients between 60 and 66 years of age, in stages 1 to 2 of the Hoehn and Yahr Scale. The first study employed recombinant human (rhEPO) and the second an intranasal formulation of neuroEPO. All patients were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological scales composed to evaluate global cognitive functioning, executive function, and memory. Results: The general results in both studies showed a positive response to the cognitive functions in PD patients, who were undergoing pharmacological treatment with respect to the evaluation (p < 0.05) before the intervention. Conclusions: Erythropoietin has a discrete positive effect on the cognitive functions of patients with Parkinson’s disease, which could be interpreted as an effect of the neuroprotective properties of this molecules. To confirm the results another clinical trial phase III with neuroEPO is in progress, also designed to discard any influence of a placebo effect on cognition.

E2CD154 is a novel subunit vaccine candidate against classical swine fever virus (CSFV). It contains the E2 envelope protein from CSFV fused to the porcine CD154 molecule formulated in the oil adjuvant Montanide^TM ISA50 V2. Previous works evidenced the safety and immunogenicity of this candidate. Here, two other important parameters related to vaccine efficacy were assessed. First, the existence of high maternally derived antibody (MDA) titers in piglets born to sows vaccinated with E2CD154 was demonstrated. These MDA titers remained above 1:200 during the first seven weeks of life. To assess whether the titers interfere with active vaccination, 79 piglets from sows immunized with either E2CD154 or a modified live vaccine were vaccinated with E2CD154 following a 0–21-day biphasic schedule. Animals immunized at either 15, 21, or 33 days of age responded to vaccination by eliciting protective neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers higher than 1:600, with a geometric mean of 1:4335, one week after the booster. Those protective levels of NAb were sustained up to six months of age. No vaccination-related adverse effects were described. As a conclusion, E2CD154 is able to induce protective NAb in piglets with different MDA levels and at different days of age.

Current treatments fail to prevent long-term consequences induced by a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of repetitive intranasal administration of NeuroEPO (a derivative of erythropoietin) on long-term alterations after a severe TBI induced by the application of a lateral fluid percussion in male rats. A otal of 30–31 days after the trauma, TBI+vehicle group showed sensorimotor dysfunction (Neuroscore, p < 0.0009; beam walking test, p < 0.0001 vs. Sham+vehicle group) and depressive-like behavior suggested by increased immobility (p = 0.0009 vs. baseline) during the forced swim test. Rats also showed increased production of malondialdehyde (a marker of oxidative damage), increased catalase activity (an antioxidant enzyme), and atrophy of brain areas evaluated with Magnetic Resonance Imaging 31 days after the trauma. TBI+NeuroEPO group received intranasal administration of NeuroEPO (0.136 mg/kg) starting 3 h post-TBI and continued every 8 h for four days. This group showed less sensorimotor dysfunction (Neuroscore, p = 0.020; beam walking test, p = 0.001, vs. TBI+vehicle group) and normal immobility behavior (p = 0.998 vs. Sham+vehicle group). Levels of malondialdehyde and catalase as well as the volume of brain structures of this group were like the Sham+vehicle group. These findings support the potential of NeuroEPO as a therapeutic agent to reduce long-term consequences of TBI.

Background Cognitive impairment is a feature of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) from the early stages but currently, no treatment for cognitive deficits in PD is available. Erythropoietin (EPO) has been studied for its potential neuroprotective properties in neurologic disorders with a beneficial action on cognition. Objective We want to know if NeuroEPO, a new formulation of EPO with low content of sialic acid has effects on cognitive function in PD in a double-blind randomized placebo and after a post-trial intervention. Methods The sample was composed of 26 PD patients (HY stages I-II), where 15 received intranasal NeuroEPO for 5 weeks and another age and gender-matched 11 patients were randomly assigned to the placebo. During a post-trial all the sample received 9 months of intensive NeuroEPO treatment. Cognitive functions were assessed using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery before, one week and 6 months after the first intervention and 9months after the post-trial. The effects of NeuroEPO were evaluated using a multivariate linear mixed-effects model using a latent variable for cognition instead of the raw neuropsychological scores. Results We found a significant and direct effect of the dose of NeuroEPO (p=0.00001) on cognitive performance with a strong positive influence of educational level (p=0.0004) and negative impact of age (p=0.007). Conclusions This preliminary results showed a positive effect of NeuroEPO on cognition in PD patients.