Differences in levels of albumin, ALT, AST, γ-GT and creatinine in frail, moderately healthy and healthy elderly individuals
-
Maria Edvardsson
,
Märtha Sund-Levander
Abstract
Background:
Reference intervals are widely used as decision tools, providing the physician with information about whether the analyte values indicate ongoing disease process. Reference intervals are generally based on individuals without diagnosed diseases or use of medication, which often excludes elderly. The aim of the study was to assess levels of albumin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine and γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT) in frail, moderately healthy and healthy elderly indivuduals.
Methods:
Blood samples were collected from individuals >80 years old, nursing home residents, in the Elderly in Linköping Screening Assessment and Nordic Reference Interval Project, a total of 569 individuals. They were divided into three cohorts: frail, moderately healthy and healthy, depending on cognitive and physical function. Albumin, ALT, AST, creatinine and γ-GT were analyzed using routine methods.
Results:
Linear regression predicted factors for 34% of the variance in albumin were activities of daily living (ADL), gender, stroke and cancer. ADLs, gender and weight explained 15% of changes in ALT. For AST levels, ADLs, cancer and analgesics explained 5% of changes. Kidney disease, gender, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease explained 25% of the variation in creatinine levels and MMSE explained three per cent of γ-GT variation.
Conclusions:
Because a group of people are at the same age, they should not be assessed the same way. To interpret results of laboratory tests in elderly is a complex task, where reference intervals are one part, but far from the only one, to take into consideration.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: Landstinget i Östergötland Sverige, (grant/award number: ‘LIO-359661’).
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Supplemental Material:
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2017-0311).
©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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- Frontmatter
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- Update in diagnosis and management of primary aldosteronism
- Diagnosis biomarkers in acute intestinal ischemic injury: so close, yet so far
- Opinion Papers
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- A Black Swan in clinical laboratory practice: the analytical error due to interferences in immunoassay methods
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- Reaching consensus on communication of critical laboratory results using a collective intelligence method
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- Serum exosomal hnRNPH1 mRNA as a novel marker for hepatocellular carcinoma
- Intragenic hypomethylation of DNMT3A in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Evaluation of analytical performance of a new high-sensitivity immunoassay for cardiac troponin I
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- Influence of delayed separation of plasma from whole blood on Cu, I, Mn, Se, and Zn plasma concentrations
- Copeptin as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients admitted to Emergency Department with syncope, presyncope and vertiginous syndrome
- Development of an internally controlled quantitative PCR to measure total cell-associated HIV-1 DNA in blood
- Selective changes in cholesterol metabolite levels in plasma of breast cancer patients after tumor removal
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