Erythropoietin

Why patient affected with chronic kidney disease get anemia?

Which medicines and diseases conditions are responsible for lower or no erythropoietin (EPO) secretion?

Kidney Renal cortex peritubular cells also secrete erythropoietin a hormone which is responsible for production of red blood cells and in tern hemoglobin.

Blood formation does not occur in patients with kidney damage due to deficiency in  secretion of EPO. There are chances that due to kidney tissue damage, which may be due to autoimmune attack from self-antibodies because of which  Kidney peritubular cells are not able to produce sufficient amounts of erythropoietin. Which is responsible for triggering red blood production by stimulating hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow. Kidney patients may have insufficient EPO for production of red blood cells.

In some patients on Anti retroviral drug treatment Zudovudine(Azidothymidin), Kidney peritubular cells are affected with to the drug which do not produce Erythropoietin.

Azidothymidin the drug is DNA nucleotide antimetabolite, that affects the synthesis of protein synthesis. And DNA RNA formation.

Other anti cancer chemotherapy medicine and radiation therapy do affect the secretion of EPO.  Treatment to mitigate the requirements is to provide Erythropoietin through IV or IM as required by patient

Erythropoietin injection Intravenous injection or IM should be provided in hospotalised patients under the team of doctors to deal with the emergencies.

Role of erythropoietin (EPO) for blood formation:

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein which consists of a chain of amino acids and glycan linked to the N-terminal of the amino acid. It is a hormone secreted by the kidney that stimulates bone marrow for production of new red blood cells from hematopoietic stem cells and activates the process of erythropoiesis.

Lower oxygen level in the body trigger Kidney cells to start secretion of Erythropoietin (EPO).

Kidney secretes Erythropoietin (EPO) when there is hypoxia in the body tissue. When our body is getting less oxygen, the kidney starts secretion of EPO. This is called negative feedback mechanisms.

Almost all hormones are regulated in our body through positive and negative feedback mechanisms.

This is a protective mechanism of our body to protect our body from low oxygen (hypoxia).

What is aplastic anemia?

Aplastic anemia: Aplastic anemia is an anemia caused by damage to bone marrow and stem cells in bone marrow which are responsible for formation of red blood cells, causing deficiency of red blood cells. Two persons out of one million people are found affected with aplastic anemia.

Treatment of Aplastic Anemia.

Treatment for aplastic anemia is to provide blood transfusion as and when required, and bone marrow transplant. Other medicines which facilitate blood formation are considered after evaluation of the condition of the patient.