Does circulating erythropoietin reflect progression of IgA nephropathy?
T Machiguchi, H Yoshida, S Yonemoto, T Minakata, K Nomura, E Muso, T Tamura and S Sasayama Department of Internal Medicine, Himeji National Hospital, Himeji, Japan; Division of Nephrology, Medical Research Institute, Kitano Hospital, 13-3 Kamiyama-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka City 530-0026, Japan; Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; Corresponding author Background. Recent reports describe that erythropoietin (Epo) is produced by peritubular interstitial fibroblast-like cells in response to a hypoxic stimulus. We studied serum Epo levels as a possible marker of tubulointerstitial damage in the progression of IgA nephropathy (IgAN), in comparison with urinary (u-) levels of N-acetyl-{beta}-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), which is mainly derived from proximal tubular cells and is used as a marker of tubular damage. Methods. Thirty-eight patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) with relatively preserved renal function (serum creatinine: sCr, 0.5-2.2 mg/dl) were examined. The
