epoetin-alfa and Proteinuria

Nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common glomerular diseases that affect in children. Complications may occur in nephrotic syndrome as a result of the disease itself as well as its treatment. Most of these complications result from excessive urinary protein losses, and control of proteinuria is the most effective treatment strategy. Anemia is one of the many complications seen in patients with persistent nephrotic syndrome and may occur as a result of excessive urinary losses of iron, transferrin, erythropoietin, transcobalamin and/or metals. This leads to a deficiency of substrates necessary for effective erythropoiesis, requiring supplementation in order to correct the anemia. Supplementation of iron and erythropoietin alone often does not lead to correction of the anemia, suggesting other possible mechanisms which need further investigation. A clear understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of anemia in nephrotic syndrome is necessary to guide appropriate therapy, but only limited evidence is currently available on the precise etiologic mechanisms of anemia in nephrotic syndrome. In this review we focus on the current state of knowledge on the pathogenesis of anemia in nephrotic syndrome.

Topics: Anemia; Child; Epoetin Alfa; Erythropoiesis; Erythropoietin; Gluconates; Hematinics; Humans; Iron; Kidney; Nephrotic Syndrome; Proteinuria; Renal Elimination; Transferrin; Treatment Outcome; Vitamins

Topics: Anemia; Animals; Diabetic Nephropathies; Disease Progression; Epoetin Alfa; Erythropoietin; Female; Humans; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Male; Nephrotic Syndrome; Proteinuria; Quality of Life; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Recombinant Proteins

Cisplatin, a heavy metal complex, is one of the most active drugs used in the treatment of several human malignancies. However, high-dose therapy with cisplatin is limited by its cumulative nephrotoxicity. The main objectives of this study were to determine the role of recombinant human erythropoietin (Epoetin alfa) in the prevention of nephrotoxicity induced experimentally in Wistar rats by long-term administration of cisplatin (2 mg/kg/b.w./week) over eight weeks, and an evaluation of its effect on renal tubular cell proliferation. The animals were randomly assigned into three groups, each including 25 rats. Group 1 (CP) received only cisplatin (2 mg/kg/b.w./week), group 2 (CP+EPO) received cisplatin (2 mg/kg/b.w./week) and epoetin alfa (150 IE/kg/b.w./three times a week), and group 3 (control group) received only saline. During the study, the following tests for the assessment of the renal function and renal damages were performed: determination of concentration of serum creatinine and BUN and determination of total protein quantity in 24-hour urine samples. At the end of the study, the abdomen was opened and both kidneys of the rats were removed and sent for histological and morphometric analysis. Ki-67 was used as a tool to determine a proliferative index. The results obtained have shown that epoetin alfa significantly reduced the functional renal failures and renal damages, and increased toleration of high doses of cisplatin. At the same time, our results with regard to tubular proliferative index have confirmed that one of the possible mechanisms by which erythropoietin accomplishes its renoprotective effect is stimulation of tubular cell proliferation and regeneration.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Blood Urea Nitrogen; Cell Proliferation; Cisplatin; Creatinine; Epoetin Alfa; Erythropoietin; Kidney; Kidney Tubules; Male; Proteinuria; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Recombinant Proteins