Abstract:

Objective    To determine expression of etythropoietin receptor(EPOR) and level of serum etythropoietin(sEPO) in Myelodysplastic Syndrome(MDS) and their relation with clinical status of MDS patients, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the EPO therapy for MDS with anemia. Methods    EPOR was detected in 45 MDS patients using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the level of sEPO was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 11 patients with refractory anemia(RA), 9 patients with refractory cytopenia accompanied by multilineage(RCMD), 10 patients with refractory anemia accompanied by excessive blasts-1(RAEB-1) and 15 patients with refractory anemia accompanied by excessive blasts-2(RAEB-2). The patients were divided into the low-risk group(RA and RCMD) and the high-risk group(RAEB-1 and RAEB-2) according to the categorization of WHO. Results    EPOR was expressed in 25 among 45 MDS patients. The relative level of EPOR mRNA expression had no significant difference between low-risk MDS patients and the control group（0.6862±0.3725 vs 0.8347±0.2541, P>0.05）, while in high-risk MDS patients it was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.4023±0.1385 vs 0.8347±0.2541)(P<0.05). The level of sEPO in low-risk MDS patients was significantly lower than that of thecontrol group ［( 13.91±7.70) IU/L vs （20.57±9.06 ）IU/L, P<0.05］; while  in highrisk MDS patients［(30.68±14.08 )IU/L］ it was significantly higher (P<0.05). Conclusion    Lower sEPO level might play an important role in low-risk MDS patients. Expression of EPOR in high-risk patients was decreased or deleted, while the level of sEPO was significantly increased. Decreased expression of EPOR might cause erythroid abnormality in high-risk MDS patients, thus providing a clue for the EPO therapy for MDS.

Key words: Etythropoietin； Etythropoietin receptor； Myelodysplastic  syndrome； Anemia