Postnatal changes in serum immunoreactive erythropoietin in relation to hypoxia before and after birth1

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To assess the immediate postnatal changes of serum immunoreactive erythropoietin (EP) in infants born after acute or chronic fetal hypoxia, and to estimate the rate of EP disappearance, we studied EP concentration, measured by double-antibody radioimmunoassay, in cord venous plasma and in serum at a mean age of 8 hours in a control group (n=9) and in three patient groups: (1) infants with polycythemia (n=10), (2) infants born to mothers with preeclampsia of pregnancy, without (n=22) or with (n=11) acidosis at birth, and (3) infants with acute birth asphyxia (n=19), seven of whom had postnatal hypoxia. In all patient groups, cord venous EP was elevated in comparison with values in control infants. No change was found in EP level between birth and 8 hours in control infants (geometric mean in cord and 8-hour sample: 20 and 16 mU/ml, not significant) or in acutely asphyxiated infants with postnatal hypoxia (122 and 72 mU/ml, not significant), whereas the EP level decreased in all other groups: infants with polycythemia (123 to 24 mU/ml, p<0.001), nonacidotic infants (78 to 26 mU/ml, p<0.001) and acidotic infants (176 to 38 mU/ml, p<0.001) of the preeclampsia group, and acutely asphyxiated infants without postnatal hypoxia (58 to 30 mU/ml, p<0.001). The mean (±SD) half-time of EP disappearance was 2.6±0.5 hours in infants with polycythemia and 3.7±0.9 hours in infants of the preeclampsia group.

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    These results suggest that fetuses from placentas with reduced villi development and a higher complexity have higher MCHC and hematocrit as a compensatory response. In women, in utero hypoxia stimulates an increase in erythropoietin concentration and subsequent red blood cell production [38]. Erythrocytosis as a consequence of stimulated erythropoiesis has also been reported in newborn foal with suspected in utero hypoxia due to placental insufficiency and placentitis [39].

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Supported by the Foundation for Pediatric Research, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, National Institutes of Health grants HL-34621 and HL-22469, and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation

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