Reference ranges

A recently published study by Feng et al (2014) demonstrated gender-specific differences in reference intervals of serum Lp-PLA₂ levels in 763 healthy Chinese Han subjects, with significantly lower serum levels in females compared to males (75th percentile: female
489 U/L (18-49 years) resp. 542 U/L (50-88 years), and males 579 U/L (18-87 years).

The median levels in males and females in this study were similar to the values reported by Winkler er al. In Winkler’s study the 80th percentile was used as reference threshold for a healthy German population of 1702 men aged 34-66 years and 3578 women aged
34-63 years resulting in a reference value of 639 U/L for men and 507 U/L for women.