Author: International Lübeck Conference on the Pathophysiology and Pharmacology of Erythropoietin and Other Hematopoietic Growth Factors 5, 2000, Lübeck
Author: International Lübeck Conference on the Pathophysiology and Pharmacology of Erythropoietin and Other Hematopoietic Growth Factors 4, 1997, Lübeck
The book contains a series of about 40 articles reflecting the state-of-the-art of the topic "Pathophysiology and Pharmacology of Erythropoietin". Results from both basic research and clinical studies are described in detail. The papers show that the possible therapeutic spectrum of erythropoietin could be expanded considerably when compared with the present situation.
The book contains a series of up-to-date review articles on the physiology and pathophysiology of the control of the production of red cells by the hormone erythropoietin. In addition, the results are reported of initial clinical trials using recombinant human erythropoietin (rhuEpo) in the treatment of the anemia of renal failure. The introductory chapter briefly recalls the history of erythropoietin research. The following section on the chemistry and physiology covers details of the structure of the hormone, assay methods, the identification of renal and extrarenal sites of the production of erythropoietin by in situ hybridization and the hypoxic stimulation of its production. A special chapter is devoted to the regulation of erythropoiesis in the neonatal period. There follows a section on pathophysiology, which includes respiratory, renal and malignant diseases in humans. In the final section the pharmacology of rhuEpo is considered. The strategy of the cloning and in vitro expression of the erythropoietin gene is described. Four chapters summarize clinical observations of the effects of rhuEpo in the correction of the anemia of renal failure, including the rise in hematocrit, blood viscosity and possibly hypertension, and the increased physical work capacity of the patients. The monograph will prove useful not only to investigators working in the basic fields of physiology, pharmacology and endocrinology, but also to practising physicians, especially hematologists and nephrologists, who are interested in erythropoietin for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.