['Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury may influence graft function after transplantation. Erythropoietin (EPO) attenuates I/R injury in various animal organs such as intestine, brain, and kidney.', 'To evaluate the effects of pretreatment with recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) on I/R-induced heart injury.', 'A rat model of I/R injury was established by ligating the left descending coronary artery for 30 minutes, followed by reperfusion for 4 hours. Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups: sham operation; I/R; I/R+rhEPO, 100 U/kg; I/R+rhEPO, 1000 U/kg; and I/R+rhEPO, 5000 U/kg. Electrocardiograms were assessed continuously to note arrhythmia caused by reperfusion. Serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were measured at 2 and 4 hours after reperfusion.', 'The rhEPO-treated animals exhibited dosage-dependent significant reduction in the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia caused by reperfusion, and markedly decreased serum concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (P < .05) compared with the I/R group (P < .05).'] Does recombinant human erythropoietin pretreatment attenuate heart ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats by suppressing the systemic inflammatory response?