Serum immunoreactive erythropoietin during pregnancy and in the early postpartum

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Abstract
Summary We studied 209 women during normal pregnancy, at delivery, or in the early postpartum. to determine whether erythropoietin (EPO) response was appropriate for the degree of anaemia. Serum immunoreactive EPO was measured in 74 nonpregnant women, including 33 normal subjects (16.4 ± 4.1 mU/ml) and 41 women with hypoplastic, haemolytic, dyserythropoietic, or iron‐deficient anaemia. An inverse linear relationship (R=‐0.88. Pn=142), at delivery (31 ± 16, n= 41), and on day 7 postpartum (37 ± 35, n= 26) than in normal women (PPP<0.001). A significant negative correlation between log(EPO) and Hct was lacking in the first two trimesters, was present but with a reduced slope during the third trimester and at delivery, and was normal postpartum. We conclude that EPO response to anaemia is impaired in early pregnancy, recovers in late pregnancy, and normalizes rapidly in the postpartum.