Effects of the evening i.v. administration of erythropoietin in haemodialyzed patients.

The authors evaluated the possibility that the time of the administration of erythropoietin (rHuEPO) may play any effect on the therapeutic outcome of the treatment. The study was carried out on 26 uremic subjects submitted to hemodialysis in the morning or in the evening. At the end of the dialytic treatment every patient was administered rHuEPO IV. The amount of erythropoietin needed to reach an Ht value of 32% was evaluated. The subjects whose rHuEPO had been administered in the first evening hours showed that they needed a less quantity of rHuEPO (885 +/- 50 vs 1550 +/- 75 IU/Kg; p < 0.01), and showed a more rapid improvement of the anemia. According to the lans of a physiologic circadian rhythm, the evening i.v. administration of rHuEPO seems to insure a quicker therapeutic success.