Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on the inflammatory response and the mechanism analysis of the Τoll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway of NEC. A total of 94 patients with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) were randomly divided into the control (42 cases) and observation (52 cases) groups, The control group received the standard medical treatment plan, whereas for the observation group this treatment plan was combined with the application of recombinant EPO for intramuscular injection treatment. The clinical effect was subsequently compared. The results showed that the complication and death rates in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Following treatments, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The expression levels of mRNA of TLR4 and NF-κB in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). In summary, EPO was able to reduce the levels of inflammatory response of TNF-α and IL-6 through the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, and improve the NEC, thus providing a basis for the clinical treatment of NEC.