Despite impressive advances in the safety of the blood supply, the search for therapeutic alternatives to blood continues. Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (rHu-EPO), along with iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid, has been recommended as a specific medication that should be used instead of blood transfusion if the clinical condition of the patient permits sufficient time for these agents to promote erythropoiesis.
In normal physiological conditions Erythropoietin is produced in the kidney and stimulates the division and differentiation of committed erythroid progenitors in the bone marrow. rHu-EPO is a glycoprotein which stimulates red blood cell production. Epoetin alfa, a 165 amino acid glycoprotein manufactured by recombinant DNA technology, has the same biological effects as endogenous rHu-EPO.
