Decreased responsiveness of hematopoietic tissue to erythropoietin in acutely uremic rats.

Abstract

Abstract The erythropoietic response to 25.0 Standard A units of erythropoietin was evaluated in hypertransfused normal and hypertransfused uremic rats by means of Fe 59 uptake in the spleen and red blood cells and in histological studies. Rats made uremic by means of bilateral nephrectomy or by unilateral nephrectomy with contralateral ligation of the ureter showed a significant decrease in the erythroid responsiveness to erythropoietin when compared to normal controls. In rats made uremic by means of bilateral nephrectomy there was a relationship between the severity of azotemia and the erythropoietic response to erythropoietin. These findings would indicate that toxic factors retained in blood would act as depressing factors of erythropoiesis in uremia.