Treatment of the Anemia of Hemodialysis Patients with Recombinant Human Erythropoietin

Abstract

Fifteen long-term hemodialysis patients suffering from stable anemia received recombinant human erytheropoietin (r-huEPO). The hormone was given intravenously at the end of each dialysis session starting with a dose of 24 IU/kg. This dose was doubled when hemoglobin levels did not rise within 2 weeks. The number of reticulocytes started to increase after 14 days of treatment. The hematocrit rose from baseline values of 23.7 ± 1.2% to 32.4 ± 1.3% after 24 weeks of treatment. In parallel, hemoglobin values increased from 7.3 ± 0.3 g/100 ml to 10.1 ± 0.4 g/100 ml. As for side effects, 3 patients developed hypertension and 2 patients suffered from occlusions of their arterio-venous fistulas. There was no evidence of major organ dysfunctions, toxic effects, allergic reactions, or antibody formation. These data show that rHuEPO is able to correct the anemia of patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment.