Short-term curative effect of amifostine combined with rhbeta-EPO on patients with pure erythroid aplasia / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the curative effects of amifostine (AMF) combined with recombinant human beta-erythropoietin (rhbeta-EPO) on patients with pure erythroid aplasia (PEA). Two patients with PEA were treated with amifostine and rhbeta-EPO. The therapeutic regimen was adopted with AMF 0.4 g/day given by intravenous injection for 5 days first, then after a break of 2 days it went on for 3 weeks consecutively, that was considered as one treatment cycle. The rhbeta-EPO 6 000 U was used by subcutaneous injection for 3 times per week. The results showed that the red cell count, hemoglobin and reticulocyte count of two patients obviously increased after treatment. The erythroid ratio in bone marrow increased. Bone marrow biopsy showed that the erythroid proliferation improved. Intervals of red cell transfusions (RCT) in the two patients who live by red cell transfusion were prolonged after AMF treatments, and the amounts of each RCT was decreased obviously. The main side effect of amifostine was discomfort of digestive system, but was tolerated by all patients. In conclusion, amifostine plus rhbeta-EPO may be a new, effective and safety method especially for the elder PEA patients. The long-term curative effects and mechanism of amifostine still need further evaluation.