Paramètres spéciaux

Erythropoietin

Serum, Heparin- and EDTA Plasma

Due to diurnal variation it is recommended to collect the sample between 7:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Collect whole blood and allow the blood to clot at 2 - 8°C. The serum should be promptly separated, preferably in a refrigerated centrifuge, and stored at -15°C or below. Serum samples may be stored at 2-8°C for a maximum of 24 hours. Serum samples, frozen at -15°C, are stable for a maximum of 12 months. Avoid repeated freezing and thawing of specimens. For long-term storage, it is recommended to aliquot the samples prior to freezing. Before usage, all samples should be brought to room temperature and mixed by gentle inversion or swirling. Do not use grossly hemolyzed or lipemic samples.

3.22 - 31.9 mIU/ml (2.5 - 97.5 percentile)

Human

No cross-reaction with ACTH and TSH.

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a highly glycosylated protein. Quantification of serum erythropoietin concentration serves as a diagnostic tool to determine the cause of anemia or erythrocytosis. Aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia and anemia due to iron deficiency all result in serum EPO elevation. Whereas, EPO levels in patients with secondary anemia due to renal failure and other disorders such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) are generally inappropriately low for the degree of anemia. Some tumors produce EPO and in these cases, EPO may be used as a tumor marker to monitor the effectiveness of treatment.
With the start of recombinant erythropoietin administration as biological therapy to the increase erythrocyte number, erythropoietin assays are also be used to support the prognosis and control of the response to a recombinant EPO treatment in anemic persons.