Miscellaneous erythropoiesis agents are those agents that cause an increase in the production of red blood cells from the bone marrow, but which don’t belong to a specific class of medicine.
Erythropoiesis is the process by which red blood cells are formed. In a fetus, erythropoiesis initially takes place in the yolk sac, spleen, and liver. After birth, all erythropoiesis takes place in the bone marrow.
Erythropoiesis is stimulated by a decrease in O₂ in the circulation, which is detected by the kidneys, which respond by secreting the hormone erythropoietin.
Miscellaneous erythropoiesis agents each differ in the way that they work, for example, luspatercept reduces a specific type of cell signaling, called Smad2/3 which means that an increase is seen in the differentiation and proliferation of red blood cell precursors. This results in an increase in hemoglobin levels within 7 days of luspatercept initiation.
