Reference distributions for the positive acute phase proteins, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (Orosomucoid), alpha(1)-antitrypsin, and haptoglobin: A comparison of a large cohort to the world's literature

Limiting bedside use of positive acute phase protein measurements (alpha (1 )-acid glycoprotein (orosomucoid), alpha (1)-antitrypsin, and haptoglobin) has been the lack of satisfactory methods for quantifying serum levels and a credible reference material. Great strides have been made in the last few years. The remaining barrier to more relevant and cost-effective use of se rum protein data for diagnosis and prognosis is the availability of reliabl e reference intervals from birth to old age for both males and females. Six ty publications reporting reference intervals have been identified which me et the criteria used in our prior two studies, and these have been analyzed statistically. Previous small studies of these individual proteins agree o n average, over their constrained age ranges, with our life-long reference ranges. This meta-analysis provides support for our reference ranges and pl aces them in the perspective of previous publications. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 14:265-270, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.