Age- and sex-dependent reference intervals for uric acid estimated by the truncated minimum chi-square (TMC) approach, a new indirect method

Abstract

Abstract Background Although the concentration of uric acid in serum or plasma is known to depend on sex and age and is subject to diurnal variation, the influence of these covariates on the reference interval (RI) is often neglected. Consequently, the values in the literature vary considerably. Therefore, we reinvestigated the reference limits and their dependence on covariates. Methods A new indirect approach was applied which derives a continuous function between age and RIs avoiding the usual “jumps” between various age groups. Results It is confirmed that the uric acid concentration in women is lower than in men. The RIs increase with age, in women more than in men. Between 80 and 90 years of age, the upper RI limit (RL) approximately reaches the same level in both sexes. Because the uric acid concentration may indicate renal insufficiency, the concentrations of creatinine and cystatin C were also measured. Both measurands showed the same behaviour as uric acid. Therefore, the age and sex dependency should be considered if the uric acid concentration is used as an indicator for hyperuricaemia (e.g. caused by gout or other metabolic diseases). Furthermore, a diurnal variation was observed. Conclusions Due to the variations of various covariates (age, sex, daytime, analytical systems), it is recommended that each laboratory should estimate its own RIs.