Endocrine effects of erythropoietin.

Uremic men may manifest a variety of hormonal abnormalities, including decreased serum concentrations of testosterone and thyroid hormones and increased serum levels of growth hormone and prolactin. Some previous investigations have reported that erythropoietin therapy may reverse these hormonal changes. To investigate this possibility further, we measured serum prolactin, testosterone, LH, FSH, TSH, free thyroxine, triiodothyronine, growth hormone and IGF-I in 21 generally elderly male hemodialysis patients before and during erythropoietin therapy; many of the patients also received an anabolic steroid or metoclopramide treatment. Despite a significant erythropoietic response in a majority of the subjects, no significant changes were seen in any of the hormonal parameters other than a small decrease in serum growth hormone concentrations. Advanced age and chronic illness in our patients may have played a role in limiting the hormonal response reported by others.