[Regulation of erythropoiesis in patients with suppressed hematopoiesis during mountain climatic treatment].

AIM: to estimate the regulation of erythropoiesis and the coagulation system in patients with suppressed hematopoiesis in a mountain hospital (3200 m above sea level).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The investigation included 12 patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and 10 with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Blood was received at a Bishkek hospital, then on days 20 and 40 of stay in the mountains. The authors studied erythropoietin (EPO) by enzyme immunoassay (Protein Contour kit, Russia), serum ferritin (SF) by immunoradioassay (Immunotech kit, Czech Republic), hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), homocysteine (HC), hepcidin, endothelin (ET), and thrombomodulin (TM) by sandwich enzyme immunoassay, by applying monospecific antisera and monoclonal antibodies against relevant antigens (IDG Int Inc, USA).

RESULTS: On staying in the mountains, there was a gradual increase in the content of hemoglobin in patients with AA and ITP. On day 40, in keeping with higher hemoglobin (Hb) levels, both groups showed a decrease in HIF-1alpha concentrations to the normal values (from 8.2 to 4.5 pg/ml). Due to the anemic syndrome, baseline EPO was increased by 5-7 times in the patients from both groups. On days 20-40, the content of EPO showed a 1.3-2.5-fold increase. In AA, HC was almost 3 times greater than the normal values; in ITP, it was 1.5-fold increased. On day 20 and during the patients'stay in the mountains, the level of HC remained in the normal range in both groups.

CONCLUSION: Hypoxic hypoxia positively affects a number of hematological parameters, by normalizing erythropoiesis (Hb, EPO, and HIF-1alpha), iron metabolism (SF), and the coagulation system (HC, ET, and TM).