Abstract
To determine whether serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) levels are an index of erythropoiesis during recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy in hemodialyzed (HD) patients with anemia, we analyzed hematopoietic parameters, iron parameters and sTfR levels in 42 HD patients, consisting of 30 patients on maintenance and 12 in the introductory stage who were newly administered rHuEPO.
sTfR was determined as the sTfR-transferrin complex (TRC) using the enzyme linked immuno-solvent assay (ELISA) and the latex agglutination nephelometric immunoassay (LA). The therapeutic effect of rHuEPO was expressed as the change in the Ht from the start of treatment to 8 weeks (ΔHt).
Ht, RBC and Hb levels were significantly increased from 1 week to 8 weeks after initiation of rHuEPO treatment. TRC levels were also significantly increased at 1, 2 and 4 weeks after the start of rHuEPO treatment. Absolute changes in the TRC level (TRC before-TRC after) and rates of change (absolute change/TRC before ×100) at 1, 2, 4 weeks after the start of rHuEPO treatment showed a significantly positive correlation with ΔHt. The absolute change in the TRC level at 1 week showed the highest correlation with ΔHt (R=0.513, p<0.0005).
These results indicate that sTfR is a useful marker as an index of the therapeutic effect of rHuEPO for anemia in HD patients.
