BACKGROUND Correction of anaemia in moderate to advanced renal failure is still a matter of debate because of postulated detrimental effects of erythropoietin on the progression of renal damage. METHODS The renal effects of early normalization of haematocrit (Htc) by erythropoietin (rHuEpo) were investigated from the time of 5/6 nephrectomy up to 8 weeks post-intervention in three groups of r...

BACKGROUND Darbepoetin alfa is an erythropoietic agent with a 3-fold longer elimination half-life than recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo), which allows less frequent dosing. This study investigated the safety and efficacy of darbepoetin alfa for treating anaemia in dialysis patients, using a dosing regimen that was independent of the patient's body weight (unit dosing). METHODS Dialysi...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Erythropoietin (Epo) is the primary growth factor for the red cell lineage but treatment with recombinant human Epo (rHuEpo) has been shown to increase platelet counts. In several animal species treatment with rHuEpo stimulated platelet production, but platelet counts tended to normalize after 1-2 weeks and large, chronic doses even caused thrombocytopenia. This paper a...

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is characterized by intravascular hemolysis leading to anemia and other clinical manifestations. Transfusions are often required to support hemoglobin at tolerable levels. A PNH patient with aplastic anemia was treated with the complement inhibitor eculizumab, followed by concurrent treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo). Eculizumab al...

Single-site glycomuteins of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhuEpo) were constructed and transiently and stably expressed in BHK-21 cells. The transient expression levels varied among muteins, being highest for mutein rhuEpoGln24 followed by wild-type rhuEpo (rhuEpowt). All other glycomuteins, including rhuEpoGln38, rhuEpoGln83, rhuEpoThr126, and rhuEpoGly126, were secreted at lower levels th...

The clinical development of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has had a remarkable impact on the clinical practice of oncology. A decade ago, randomized, placebo-controlled trials in anemic cancer patients demonstrated that rHuEPO resulted in an improvement in hemoglobin and hematocrit, a reduction in transfusion requirements, and improvement in quality-of-life (QOL) end points. Based o...

Background. Ferritin and the percentage of transferrin saturation (TS) are established parameters with which to evaluate endogenous iron availability during treatment of renal anaemia with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo). Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) has been proposed as another valid marker in this setting. Methods. We determined the following parameters in 127 patients, including 117 h...

Imagine a medicine that is expected to have very limited effects based upon knowledge of its pharmacology and (patho)physiology and that is studied in the wrong population, with low-quality studies that use a surrogate end-point that relates to the clinical end-point in a partial manner at most. Such a medicine would surely not be recommended. The use of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO...

BACKGROUND Patients with end-stage renal failure undergoing haemodialysis (HD) are exposed to oxidative stress. Increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) were demonstrated in plasma of uraemic patients, indicating accelerated lipid peroxidation (LPO) as a consequence of multiple pathogenetic factors. The aim of our investigation was to examine the role of renal anaemia in oxidative stress in HD...