PURPOSE:
To establish the reference ranges of some biochemical
parameters for adult Kenyan population.
METHODS:
In a prospective involving 1100 healthy blood donors
(age: 18-55 yr) in Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
reference ranges of some biochemical analytes were
constructed by using the parametric methods to estimate
2.5 and 97.5 percentiles of distribution.
RESULTS:
The reference ranges of the analytes were: alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) [males (0-39) U/L, females (0-34)
U/L]; aspartate aminotransferase (AST) [males (6-40)
U/L, females (3-37) U/L]; alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
[males (13-201) U/L, females (5-227) U/L]; albumin (ALB)
[males (29-52) g/L, females (28-50) g/L]; protein (PROT)
[males (57-89) g/L, females (56-88) g/L]; creatinine (CREAT)
[males (59-127) µmol/L, females (54-122) µmol/L];
glucose (GLU) [males (2.8-6.8) mmol/L, females (2.6-7)
mmol/L]; phosphorus (PHOS) [males (0.5-2.0) mmol/L,
females (0.2-2.4) mmo/L]; potassium (POT) [males
(3-5.3), females (3.1-5.1) mmo/L]; sodium (SOD) [males
(111-153) mmol/L, females (117-151) mmol/L]; Blood urea
nitrogen BUN [males (1.5-5.9) mmol/L, females (1.2-6.0)
mmol/L] and Uric acid (UA) [males (120-458) µmol/L,
females (89-415) µmol/L]. Age differences in the
established reference ranges were observed in ALT, ALB,
CREAT, ALP and UA in males and in ALT, ALB, and CREAT in
females. Gender differences were observed in ALT, AST,
ALB, CREAT and UA in the 18-28 yr old, ALT, AST, ALB,
SOD and UA in 29-39 yr old and AST, ALB, and UA in 40-50
yr old.
CONCLUSION:
Age and sex specific reference ranges of some
biochemical parameters were established some of which
were different from those reported in literature. There
therefore the need for each clinical chemistry
laboratory to establish its own ranges.
Keywords:
Reference
range, Biochemical parameter, Adult Kenyan, Kenyatta
National Hospital.
