ERYTHROPOETIN & VITAMIN D3

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Erythropoietin (also called epo) is a hormone produced by the kidneys in response to decreased oxygen levels in the circulating blood that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells (RBCs).

Anemia in chronic kidney failure mainly develops because diseased kidneys no longer produce adequate amounts of erythropoietin.

Replacement of the deficient hormone through erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) therapy, allows practitioners to keep patients’ hemoglobin (a protein in RBCs that carries oxygen) in a recommended range which is 10-12gm/dl in CKD patients.

Vitamin D3 produced in the kidneys and is involved in Calcium metabolism and hence in CKD there is bone disease for which Calcium and Vit.D supplementation is adviced. However supplementation depends on Calcium, Vit. D, PTH &Phosphorous levels.