To clarify the mechanism of renal anemia in hemodialysis patients, we made a comparison between patients not receiving rHuEPO since the start of HD or for 1 year after improvement of anemia due to administration of rHuEPO (non-rHuEPO group, n=14) and patients who had received rHuEPO intravenously three times a week (rHuEPO group, n=14).
The hematocrit of these patients was more than 30% during the 5 months of the observation period.
RBC, Hb, TIBC, UIBC, and transferrin levels were significantly higher in the non-rHuEPO group than in the rHuEPO group, and ferritin was significantly lower in the non-rHuEPO group than in the rHuEPO group.
There were significant negative correlations between ferritin and transferrin, and between ferritin and Ht, respectively. However, there was a significant positive correlation between transferrin and Ht in the non-rHuEPO group alone.
This study suggests that transferrin is an important factor in assessing nutritional status and anemia in hemodialysis patients.