Human recombinant erythropoietin in the prevention and treatment of anemia of prematurity

Human recombinant erythropoietin has been studied extensively as treatment for a variety of anemias. Since in vitro studies showed the primary etiology of the anemia of prematurity to be insufficient serum erythropoietin concentrations, clinical trials have evaluated the administration of human recombinant erythropoietin to preterm infants to treat this indication. These studies were followed by pharmacokinetic determinations in animal models and preterm infants, which revealed that preterm infants required greater doses of human recombinant erythropoietin because of a more rapid clearance and greater volume of distribution. Recent studies have focused on the administration of human recombinant erythropoietin in the first weeks of life to alleviate the anemia caused by excessive phlebotomy losses, and to prevent the anemia of prematurity. In addition, human recombinant erythropoietin has been tried clinically in a variety of neonatal populations in an attempt to decrease or eliminate transfusions. Although much information has been accumulated about the clinical use of human recombinant erythropoietin in preterm infants over the last 15 years, many questions remain unanswered. The evolution of clinical practice in the care of extremely low birthweight infants continues to affect the number of transfusions. It is likely that human recombinant erythropoietin administration in combination with instituting rigorous transfusion guidelines and decreasing phlebotomy losses will have the greatest impact in decreasing transfusion requirements in all preterm and term neonates, regardless of the etiology of their anemia.