Morteza Afrasiabi, Zahra Zolnoorian, Seyyed Hossein Javadpoor,
Volume 8, Issue 4 (2-1995)
Abstract
The pharmacokinetics of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo)
administered intravenously has been investigated in a group of five patients with
chronic renal failure who were dialysis-dependent. The half-life of circulating
erythropoietin decreased from 7.9±OA hr (mean ±SO) at the beginning of treatment
to 6.2±O.6 hr after 6 weeks and 5A±O.9 hr after 4 months of treatment. In spite of the
sustained increase in haemoglobin neither the red ce1l2,3,-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-
DPO) nor the P50 decreased from the pretreatment values. The mechanism which
governs the rise in 2,3-diphosphoglycerate in chronic renal failure is different from
the adaptive mechanism which operates in other types of anaemia.
