Abstract
Erythropoietin (Ep) is the main regulator of red blood cell production. It is a commonly held notion that Ep levels are increased in conditions with decreased oxygen supply. The following study shows that this does not always hold true.
We measured siEp in 79 children with cyanotic and acyanotic heart disease, aged 1 day to 10 years. During the first days of life siEp varied widely, and the levels seemed mainly to reflect intrauterine conditions and events taking place around birth.
Cyanotic infants aged 2 weeks to 4 months had significantly higher siEp values than their older counterparts. After 4 months of age the levels were the same in cyanotic and acyanotic children, and similar to normal adults.
SiEp did not correlate significantly with haemoglobin, haematocrit, arterial PO2 or saturation.
The siEp levels in cyanotic children display the same pattern as observed in man and animals exposed to prolonged hypobaric hypoxia, in which after an initial rise in Ep concentrations the levels fall to normal while increased erythropoiesis is sustained.
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Hågå, P., Cotes, P., Till, J. et al. SERUM IMMUNOREACTIVE ERYTHROPOIETIN (siEP) IN CHILDREN WITH CYANOTIC AND ACYANOTIC HEART DISEASE. Pediatr Res 22, 239 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198708000-00154
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198708000-00154