Anemia can be caused by both chronic kidney and liver diseases with the feature of decreased hemoglobin and circulating erythrocytes, which is related to inadequate production of erythropoietin in the kidney, accumulation of inflammation, and deficiency of iron (Gonzalez-Casas et al., 2009; Koury and Haase, 2015). Here, EPO is linked to anemia (phenotype).