EPO and infection: Testing on the contribution of the variable time since infection was performed, and significant differences were observed for the ALT (p = 0.05), AST (p = 0.02), erythropoietin (p = 0.01), Reticulocyte absolute (p = 0.03), folic acid (p = 0.05), and TNF-alpha (p = 0.02) concentrations in the ATH group.