Impaired production of burst promoting activity by blood mononuclear cells from chronic uremic patients

The ability of blood mononuclear cells (MNC) to produce burst promoting activity (BPA) was evaluated in 31 patients with chronic renal failure. The BPA of cells from uremic patients, with or without hemodialysis, was consistently lower than that of 17 normal donors (mean 64%, P less than 0.01). Coculture of MNC with recombinant erythropoietin (rEpo) in vitro did not increase BPA production. Five of 31 patients received in vivo treatment with rEpo (1,500 units x3/week) and showed therapeutic benefit, but in all patients the BPA production remained low. On the other hand, in four patients who were on a hemodialysis protocol and subsequently underwent renal transplantation, impaired BPA production was resolved quickly, and at the same time the number of circulating BFU-E and the hemoglobin level increased toward normal ranges. Furthermore, such impaired BPA production was not observed in patients receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. These observations suggest that decreased production of BPA may play a role in the development of anemia associated with chronic uremic patients, and the correction of BPA production by the improvement of hemodialysis procedure may result in more effective therapy with rEpo for those patients.