Trends and physiology of common serum biochemistries in children aged 0–18 years

Summary: The aim of this study was to visually present and discuss in detail the physiological trends of 22 serum biochemistries in children aged 0–18. A data-mining, LMS (lambda, mu, and sigma) approach was employed to derive the smoothed continuous serum biochemistry centile charts, after application of stringent outlier exclusion criteria. Serum sodium and calculated osmolality are low in early life and rise with age due to maturing kidney and body water redistribution. Urea, creatinine and uric acid is high at birth, declines to reach a trough by 1 month of age and gradually rises again thereafter. Serum bicarbonate falls initially during the neonatal and toddler period, then rises with declining respiratory rate, further increasing sodium and suppressing chloride. Potassium, calcium and phosphate are required for somatic growth and are actively accrued during periods of rapid growth. Albumin increases until puberty while globulin rises to age 10 as a result of increased hepatic synthetic capacity and maturing immunity. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity peaks during bone growth spurts in infancy and adolescence due to osteoblast leakage, while creatinine increases with muscle mass. Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase, aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase activities are high at birth and decline with age. Serum alanine aminotransferase activity is low at birth and is induced by increased gluconeogenesis. Serum bilirubin increases continuously with age, mir...
Source: Pathology - Category: Pathology Tags: Chemical Pathology Source Type: research