PMID: 11924756Apr 2, 2002Paper

Epoetin omega for treatment of anemia in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Clinical Nephrology
A SikoleM Polenakovic

Abstract

After the synthesis of epoetins alpha and -beta, a third molecule of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) was synthesized and was named epoetin-omega. The molecule of epoetin-omega is a sialoglycoprotein with smaller amounts of O-bound sugars, less acidic and with different hydrophylity than the other 2 epoetins. The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy, safety and clinical tolerance of epoetin-omega for treatment of renal anemia. In an open-label, uncontrolled prospective clinical study, 22 end-stage renal disease patients (9 male and 13 female) were followed for 6 months. They all had a hemoglobin (Hb) value below 85 g/l, and were on regular hemodialysis therapy 3 times a week, 4 hours per session. The initial weekly dose of epoetin-omega was 90 units per kg of body weight (b.w.) divided in 3 equal portions and administered subcutaneously after each dialysis session. After correction of the hemoglobin, the dose of rHuEPO was individualized to keep Hb within target limits of 100-120 g/l. To follow efficacy and safety, a number of clinical and laboratory parameters were monitored. All patients responded well to the therapy with corrected hemoglobin after the 10th week of the study. The mean dose of epoetin-omega...Continue Reading

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