Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 105, Issue 5, November 1984, Pages 793-798
The Journal of Pediatrics

Decreased response of plasma immunoreactive erythropoietin to “available oxygen” in anemia of prematurity*

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(84)80309-1Get rights and content

Erythropoietin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, oxygen affinity (P50), and reticulocyte counts were measured weekly starting at 1 week of age in 10 very-low-birth-weight infants and on a single occasion in 15 healthy men. In the adults, “available oxygen” (derived from oxygen carrying capacity and P50) averaged 13.1 ml/dl blood and the mean erythropoletin level was 15.2 mU/ml. Erythropoietin levels in the infants were inversely related to concentration of hemoglobin, P50 and available oxygen. However, despite the much lower mean “available oxygen” of 9.3 ml/dl in the infants compared with that in adults (P<0.001), the mean erythropoietin value of 8.2 mU/ml in the infants was less than in adults (P<0.001). Furthermore, the erythropoietin response to decreased, “available oxygen” was lowest in the least mature infants. VLBW infants often develop clinical evidence of hypoxia during the anemia of prematurity. The relatively low erythropoietin levels in relation to “available oxygen” are compatible with a decreased erythropoietin response to hypoxia compared with that in adults. Such a difference in response could be a contributing factor to the anemia of prematurity.

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*

Supported by grants AM13897, HD07162, and HL22469 from the National Institutes of Health, and under contract DE-AC03-76SF0098 from the Office of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy.

Deceased.

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