Impact of rHuEPO therapy initiation on soluble adhesion molecule levels in haemodialysis patients

Background: Increased levels of soluble adhesion molecules have been reported in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Recent studies have shown that recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) elicits proliferation and migration of endothelial cells and modifies endothelial function. The present study was design to explore the effects of rHuEPO on serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules in HD patients. Methods: Soluble serum levels of E-selectin (sE-selectin), intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were measured by ELISA in 29 rHuEPO naive HD patients (20 males, 9 females) and 10 control subjects at baseline and second month. The HD patients with a haemoglobin level lower than 10.0 mg/dL (n = 19) were administered rHuEPO therapy and other HD patients (n = 10) were followed as a placebo group. Results: Serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules were significantly higher in HD patients compared with the control group. A significant rise from the baseline in sE-selectin levels (77 +/- 70 vs 100 +/- 86 ng/mL, P < 0.05) was observed 2 months after rHuEPO initiation, while sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels decreased (271 +/- 261 vs 197 +/- 89 and 1043 +/- 243 vs 990 +/- 236 ng/mL, respectively, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The present data indicate that rHuEPO could have an important action on serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules in HD patients. rHuEPO might modify the expression of adhesion molecules from endothelial cells either. However, the exact mechanism responsible for the serum elevation of these molecules in HD patients is yet to be fully elucidated.