Korean J Med > Volume 74(5); 2008 > Article
The Korean Journal of Medicine 2008;74(5):531-536.
Blunted erythropoietin response: the common findings in various anemic patients
Yo-Han Cho, Soo Young Ahn, Young Baek Kim, So Young Yoon, Hong Ghi Lee
전남대학교병원 심장센터, 간호부, 전남대학교 심혈관계 특성화 사업단
원저 : 다양한 빈혈에서의 혈중 적혈구생성인자 분비의 특성
조요한, 안수영, 김영백, 윤소영, 이홍기
Abstract
Background/Aims : The characteristics of erythropoietin response in patients suffering with anemia of chronic disease and in the patients with various other anemias are poorly defined. Thus, we evaluated the clinical factors that influence the erythropoietin response. Methods : We enrolled the anemic patients (hemoglobin <13 g/dL for males and <12 g/dL for females) who visited the Hematology-Oncology department of Konkuk University Hospital from Mar 2006 to April 2007. The laboratory tests, including the complete blood count, serum ferritin, serum vitamin B12/folate, the peripheral blood morphology and serum erythropoietin, were done. The erythropoietin response to anemia was assessed by the ratio of the log of the measured erythropoietin to the log of the expected erythropoietin. Results : A total of 161 patients, including 42 iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) patients, were analyzed. 119 non-IDA patients were diagnosed with infection (n=46), chronic renal failure (n=27), cancer (n=20), heart failure (n=12), or with other diseases (n=14). Except for the cancer patients, all the patients with other diseases showed a blunted erythropoietin response in comparison with the IDA patients (p=0.000). Among the non-IDA patients, those patients older than 65 years showed more blunted erythropoietin response than did the younger patients (p=0.01), and the diabetics without renal dysfunction also tended to respond better to erythropoietin than did the non-diabetics (p=0.055). Conclusion : A blunted erythropoietin response was observed in most of the anemic patients in our study. Old age and diabetes may further blunt the erythropoietin response. The feasibility of erythropoietin testing and supplementation treatment in these patients merits further evaluation.
Key Words: Erythropoietin; Anemia; Old age; Diabetes mellitus


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