Monitoring erythropoietin therapy for anaemia of chronic renal failure by serum erythropoietin assays.

Abstract

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a polypeptide hormone that stimulates erythropoiesis by controlling the formation and maturation of erythroid progenitors. The availability of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has led to the development of sensitive and specific immunoassay methods for the measurement of serum EPO concentrations and these have been shown to be of value in the differential diagnosis of various haematological disorders.' Anaemia due to chronic renal failure results from deficient production of EPO by diseased kidneys.? The serum EPO concentrations usually seen in this group of patients are inappropriately low for their degree of anaemia.! Administration of rHuEPO has been shown to correct the anaemia in these patients and to improve their morbidity. However, it is an expensive form of treatment (between £3000and £5000per patient year) and overdosage with EPO is a potential hazard with hypertension and thrombotic complications as important sideeffects. We report the serum EPO concentrations in 17 patients with chronic renal failure during their treatment with rHuEPO.