Serum erythropoietin levels in pediatric patients with beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E

Presently, the assays for serum erythropoietin (EPO) seem valuable tools for clinical research, but their roles in routine clinical practice remain undefined. Some studies mentioned that serum EPO measurements, which are now easily and reliably performed, should be used in monitoring the therapy of beta-thalassemia major. Here, we report our experience in the determination of serum EPO in children with beta-thalassemia/Hb E and also compared the results with those in hemoglobin E trait, beta-thalassemia/Hb E as well as healthy non-anemic controls of similar age. Fifty five transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia/Hb E, fifteen hemoglobin E trait, five beta-thalassemia trait cases and twenty five controls were studied for their serum EPO levels. The mean (S.D.) EPO concentrations were 19.94 (17.40) U/L for the controls, 16.13 (8.47) U/L for the hemoglobin E trait, 24.40 (8.20) U/L for the beta-thalassemia trait and 372.19 (432.04) U/L for the beta-thalassemia/Hb E cases. The mean EPO concentration for the normal controls was near to that of the hemoglobin E trait (P = 0.06) and beta-thalassemia trait (P = 0.25) but eighteen times less than that for the beta-thalassemia major cases (P<0.0005).