[Successful treatment of anemia in hemolysis patients using recombinant human erythropoietin. Maintenance dosage and serum concentration].

Recombinant human erythropoietin (r-huEpo) was administered i.v. to eight anemic patients on hemodialysis in increasing doses 3 times a week. 7 out of 8 patients showed an increase in hemoglobin level by 2 g/dl over the baseline of 7.9 +/- 0.8 g/dl after a mean period of 8 +/- 2 weeks. During treatment a cumulative dose of 692 +/- 358 IU/kgBW erythropoietin was given. Before the rise in hemoglobin, reticulocytes increased from 1.6 +/- 0.7% initially to 5 +/- 1.6%. The serum ferritin concentration decreased from 426 (range 19-1223) to 250 (5-707) micrograms/l. No side effects were observed. Mean blood pressure before dialysis increased slightly from 125 mmHg to 137 mmHg systolic, and diastolic pressure from 75 to 80 mmHg. Maintenance doses to maintain hemoglobin values between 10 und 12 g/dl varied from 2 X 72 IU/kgBW to 3 X 168 IU/kgBW per week. Measurement of serum levels of erythropoietin by radioimmunoassay showed deficiency of the hormone in the patients with chronic renal failure: before treatment mean serum values were 4 +/- 6.4 mU/ml and during maintenance doses with r-huEpo 33.7 +/- 8.1 mU/ml, which is within normal ranges related to hematocrit. These data show erythropoietin to be effective in ameliorating anemia during hemodialysis treatment.