Comparative effectiveness of erythropoietin alpha and beta in hemodialysis patients: a single-center prospective observational study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Methodology flow diagram of inclusion and exclusion criteria

Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the studied population (n = 94)

Variables	Group A (erythropoietin alpha), n = 54	Group B (erythropoietin beta), n = 40	p-value
Age (in years)	56.70 ± 10.53	53.37 ± 9.64	0.120
Males	36 (60.0)	24 (40.0)	0.506
Females	18 (52.9)	16 (47.1)
Hypertension	50 (92.6)	34 (85.0)	0.315
Diabetes	28 (51.9)	21 (52.5)	0.950
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m^2)	7.72 ± 3.21	7.96 ± 2.84	0.708
BMI (kg/m^2)	26.19 ± 4.79	25.55 ± 5.48	0.548
Albumin (g/l)	3.54 ± 0.52	3.65 ± 0.45	0.286
Urea (mg/dl)	103.95 ± 41.82	106.79 ± 38.39	0.737
Creatinine (mg/dl)	7.89 ± 2.36	7.29 ± 2.38	0.228
Ferritin (ng/ml)	328.45 ± 181.79	285.90 ± 190.06	0.274
TIBC (μg/dl)	221.50 ± 34.60	196.70 ± 49.53	0.005
Serum iron (μg/dl)	87.40 ± 50.19	85.56 ± 63.21	0.880
T-sat (%)	42.00 ± 8.46	45.22 ± 7.40	0.058
CRP (mg/dl)	5.42 ± 6.95	8.76 ± 9.25	0.050

Data presented as mean and standard deviation or frequency and percentage. P-value calculated by independent sample t-test, chi-square and Fisher’s exact test (as appropriate).

eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate; BMI: body mass index; TIBC: total iron binding capacity; T-sat: transferrin saturation; CRP: c-reactive protein; n: number of individuals.

Table 2. Mean difference in hemoglobin levels before and after study duration among the groups

Variables	Group A (erythropoietin alpha), n = 54			Group B (erythropoietin beta), n = 40
	Before therapy	After therapy	Mean difference	Before therapy	After therapy	Mean difference
Hemoglobin (g/l)	9.80 ± 1.20	10.25 ± 1.10	+0.452	9.66 ± 1.49	10.63 ± 1.52	+0.975
p-value	0.213		-	0.025*		-
MCV (fl)	87.38 ± 9.66	89.90 ± 9.30	+2.523	88.06 ± 8.60	90.75 ± 8.42	+2.687
p-value	0.005*		-	0.090		-
PCV (%)	33.37 ± 2.12	33.79 ± 1.52	+0.425	32.97 ± 1.81	34.73 ± 2.01	+1.758
p-value	0.057		-	0.001*		-
MCH (pg)	27.47 ± 5.73	28.42 ± 3.37	+0.952	28.18 ± 2.44	28.31 ± 2.55	+0.125
p-value	0.301		-	0.662		-
MCHC (g/dl)	31.14 ± 1.37	32.19 ± 1.58	+1.047	31.06 ± 1.31	31.62 ± 2.09	+0.562
p-value	0.002*		-	0.233		-
RBC count (x10^6/uL)	3.46 ± 0.81	3.64 ± 0.68	+0.176	3.43 ± 0.69	3.81 ± 0.67	+0.375
p-value	0.215		-	0.007*		-

Data presented as mean and standard deviation; All p-values computed via paired sample t-test.

* indicates significant values of less than 0.05 (two-tailed).

MCV: mean corpuscular volume; PCV: packed cell volume; MCH: mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; n: number of individuals.

Figure 2. Comparisons of mean differences of studied parameters in both groups before and after completion of therapy

Data availability

Data can be made available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.