DETECTION OF ANTI-ERYTHROPOIETIN ANTIBODIES IN HAEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS TREATED WITH RECOMBINANT HUMAN-ERYTHROPOIETIN

• Published in: Pharmacological research Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 313 - 318
• Main Authors: CASTELLI, GAETANO, FAMULARO, ANTONIO, SEMINO, CLAUDIA, MACHI, ANNA MARIA, CECI, ADRIANA, CANNELLA, GIUSEPPE, MELIOLI, GIOVANNI
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2000
• Subjects: Anemia - drug therapy; Anemia - etiology; Anemia - immunology; Antibodies - blood; Antibodies - immunology; Erythropoietin - genetics; Erythropoietin - immunology; Erythropoietin - therapeutic use; erythropoietin, immunoglobulins, enzyme-immunoassay; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques - methods; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; Recombinant Proteins - therapeutic use; Renal Dialysis; Renal Insufficiency - blood; Renal Insufficiency - complications; Renal Insufficiency - drug therapy; Renal Insufficiency - immunology; Reproducibility of Results; erythropoietin, immunoglobulins, enzyme-immunoassay
• ISSN: 1043-6618; 1096-1186
• DOI: 10.1006/phrs.1999.0593

An enzyme-immunoassay was developed to evaluate the presence of anti-erythropoietin antibodies in plasma samples obtained from renal failure patients treated with recombinant human erythropoietin (rh-EPO). The assay was specific and reproducible. Normal donors had no antibodies to EPO, while 67% of treated patients were positive to the assay. While the specificity of anti-EPO IgG antibodies was high, their affinity for the antigen was low. This finding can be explained by the very small differences in the structure of rh-EPO compared to that of natural EPO. The assay described could be useful in evaluating the long-term effects of rh-EPO treatment on the control of anaemia in renal failure patients. 2000 Academic Press@p$hr