Intervalos de referência da concentração sérica de pré-albumina de crianças saudáveis de um município do Brasil central

Abstract

The reference intervals (RI) of serum concentrations of pre-albumin practiced by pediatricians in Brazil, in attention to the child population, are based on international studies, generally American or European. It is known that geographical, cultural, genetic and dietary differences in populations impact on the RI of most blood analytes. The aim of the present study was to determine RI of serum pre-albumin concentrations in healthy children aged 1 to <11 years, of both sexes, in a city in the Central Region of Brazil. Healthy infants, preschoolers and schoolchildren from one to ten years old, enrolled in the morning period of 47 daycare centers and 83 public schools in the city of Cuiabá (MT) with their anthropometric and social

information and subsequent blood collection to measure the pre - serum albumin. The Kruskal- Wallis test was performed to assess the pre-albumin homoscedasticity in each age group and

sex. After eliminating outliers greater than or less than three standard deviations, the RI were determined by the mean ± 2 standard deviations method and by the 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles method. 1,197 healthy children were studied, with 127 (10.3%) infants, 511 (42.7%) preschoolers and 562 (47.0%) schoolchildren. The reference intervals obtained by the mean ± 2 standard deviations method were 0.105 g / L to 0.217 g / L for 1-year-old girls; from 0.110 g / L to 0.260 g / L for those aged 2 to 8 years; and from 0.137 g / L to 0.270 g / L for those aged 9 to 10 years. For boys aged 1 and 2 years, the observed IR was 0.092 g / L to 0.237 g / L; from 0.109 g / L to 0.253 g / L for those aged 3 to 9 years; and from 0.147 g / L to 0.277 g / L for those aged 10 to <11 years. These RI were not very different from those obtained by the 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles method, whose RI ranged from 0.105 g / L to 0.217 g / L for 1 year old girls; from 0.110 g / L to 0.260 g / L for those aged 2 to 8 years; and from 0.137 g / L to 0.270 g / L, for those aged 9 to <11 years. The RI calculated for children aged 1 to 2 years, from 0.092 g / L to 0.237 g / L; for those aged 3 to 9 years it was between 0.109 g / L and 0.253 g / L; and for those aged 10 to <11 years, between 0.147 g / L and 0.277 g / L. These RI were similar to those established by the 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles. It was observed that the RI established in the present sample were different from those shown by the CALIPER study with Canadian children, indicating that the use of serum pre-albumin reference parameters based on results of international studies may not be providing an accurate diagnosis of pathological disorders at associated with it, in pediatric clinical practice in Brazil.