Erythropoietin: physico- and biochemical analysis.

A hormone, erythropoietin, mainly produced in adult kidneys and fetal livers, acts on bone marrow erythroid progenitor cells to regulate the production of erythrocyte in mammals. As a result, the oxygen carrying capacity of blood increases and the increased oxygen supply raises the cardiac function and physiological working capacity. Erythropoietin is possibly misused by athletes in sports for the purpose of improving performance. Presently there is no discernible and specific method to identify erythropoietin administration for doping control. To address this practical problem, this paper presents a summary of the applications of analytical biotechnology, especially the structural characterization of erythropoietin.