EPO and chronic kidney disease: This link between eryptosis and anemia is particularly impactful given the inadequate erythropoietic compensation in NDD-CKD: despite reduced RBC survival, NDD-CKD patients showed only a modest increase in reticulocyte count and an insufficient reticulocyte production index (RPI <2), accompanied by unelevated plasma erythropoietin (EPO) concentrations.