title: Effects of recombinant human erythropoietin on fetal and adult hemoglobin in preterm infants.
abstract: In the present study we assess the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEpo) upon levels of fetal Hb (HbF) and adult Hb (HbA) in preterm infants. Twenty-eight "healthy," appropriate for gestational age infants with birth weights 900-1400 g entered the study at 3 wk of age. Fourteen infants were randomized to receive r-HuEpo, and 14 infants served as controls. Four controls and six r-HuEpo treated infants had been transfused before study start, whereas four control infants were transfused in the course of the study. The untransfused infants showed a high HbF/Hb ratio during the study with only a weak tendency to decline toward the expected time of delivery. The total Hb mass increased (p < 0.05) more in the r-HuEpo-treated infants than in the untreated, whereas the rise in HbF mass was similar in the two groups. After each transfusion, the HbF/Hb ratio reverted gradually to the ratio expected at the infant's postconceptional age. There was no difference in the production rate of HbF between r-HuEpo-treated infants and controls. The present data indicate that the HbF/HbA ratio in preterm infants is subject to the same programmed mechanisms which govern intrauterine erythropoiesis until term and that exogenous r-HuEpo does not influence this pattern significantly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bechensteen
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Refsum
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hågå
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liestøl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin / Q000187:drug effects*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000097:blood; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D004921:Erythropoietin; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin