Erythropoietin levels and inhibition of erythropoiesis in end-stage renal failure.

Abstract

Anaemia of chronic renal failure is multifactorial. Twenty-one patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and 21 normal subjects were studied to determine the significance of serum erythropoietin levels and erythropoiesis inhibition in the aetiology of renal anaemia. Serum erythropoietin levels and erythropoiesis inhibition were measured by determining the incorporation of labelled-thymidine into the DNA of rabbit bone marrow cells. The mean haemoglobin concentration was 9.0 +/- 0.5 g/dl (mean +/- SEM) in ESRD and 14.4 +/- 0.4 g/dl in normal controls. Serum erythropoietin levels (99.9 +/- 17.9 mU/ml in ESRD vs 74.9 +/- 9.7 mU/ml in normal controls) and inhibition of erythropoiesis (252 +/- 28.9 in ESRD vs 186.2 +/- 19.4 in normal controls) were not significantly different in both groups. However, erythropoiesis inhibition had a significant correlation with the degree of anaemia (p less than 0.01). The results suggest that erythropoiesis inhibition play a significant role in the pathogenesis of renal anaemia.