{"id":"erythropoietin","name":"Erythropoietin (EPO)","shortName":"EPO","aliases":["Erythropoietin","EPO","Erythropoietin, Serum","Epo Level","Serum Erythropoietin","Erythropoietin (EPO), Serum","EPO, Serum","Erythropoietin Level","Eritropoyetina","Eritropoietina","Erythropoetin"],"abbreviations":["EPO","sEPO"],"loinc":[{"code":"15061-5","primary":true},{"code":"2237-6","primary":false}],"specimen":"serum","units":[{"ucum":"m[IU]/mL","display":"mIU/mL"},{"ucum":"[IU]/L","display":"IU/L"}],"referenceRanges":[{"population":"19+","low":2.6,"high":18.5,"unit":"m[IU]/mL","unitDisplay":"mIU/mL","note":"Labcorp and Quest (for ages over 18, same for both sexes) and MedlinePlus all print 2.6–18.5 mIU/mL. Intervals depend on the assay, so other labs differ: ARUP prints 4–27 mU/mL (the central 95% of people with a normal hematocrit), one assay maker's expected range is 4.3–29.0 IU/L, a single-center study of 393 healthy donors found 5.3–26.3 IU/L with no difference by sex or age, and published intervals run from 2.2 to 34.0. mIU/mL, mU/mL and IU/L are numerically the same. EPO is judged against hemoglobin: a value inside this range can still be too low for someone with anemia. Use the range on your own lab report.","sources":[{"title":"Erythropoietin (test code 427), Dallas service area","url":"https://testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com/test/test-detail/427/erythropoietin?cc=DAL","publisher":"Quest Diagnostics"},{"title":"Erythropoietin (EPO) (test 140277)","url":"https://www.labcorp.com/tests/140277/erythropoietin-epo","publisher":"Labcorp"},{"title":"Erythropoietin test (Medical Encyclopedia)","url":"https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003683.htm","publisher":"MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine","year":2025},{"title":"Erythropoietin (test 0050227)","url":"https://ltd.aruplab.com/Tests/Pub/0050227","publisher":"ARUP Laboratories"},{"title":"Diagnostic Performance of Serum Erythropoietin to Discriminate Polycythemia Vera from Secondary Erythrocytosis through Established 'Subnormal' Limits","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11393970/","publisher":"Diagnostics (Basel)","year":2024}]}],"review":{"status":"ai-verified","label":"AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review","lastReviewed":"2026-10-03"},"summary":"A hormone made mostly by the kidneys that tells the bone marrow to make red blood cells. It is read alongside your hemoglobin.","url":"https://bloodtesttracker.com/markers/erythropoietin","notice":"Information, not medical advice. Ranges differ between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against."}