title: Immunohematological reference ranges for adult Ethiopians.
abstract: A cross-sectional survey was carried out with 485 healthy working adult Ethiopians who are participating in a cohort study on the progression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection to establish hematological reference ranges for adult HIV-negative Ethiopians. In addition, enumeration of absolute numbers and percentages of leukocyte subsets was performed for 142 randomly selected HIV-negative individuals. Immunological results were compared to those of 1,356 healthy HIV-negative Dutch blood donor controls. Immunohematological mean values, medians, and 95th percentile reference ranges were established. Mean values were as follows: leukocyte (WBC) counts, 6.1 x 10(9)/liter (both genders); erythrocyte counts, 5.1 x 10(12)/liter (males) and 4.5 x 10(12)/liter (females); hemoglobin, 16.1 (male) and 14.3 (female) g/dl; hematocrit, 48.3% (male) and 42.0% (female); platelets, 205 x 10(9)/liter (both genders); monocytes, 343/microl; granulocytes, 3, 057/microl; lymphocytes, 1,857/microl; CD4 T cells, 775/microl; CD8 T cells, 747/microl; CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio, 1.2; T cells, 1, 555/microl; B cells, 191/microl; and NK cells, 250/microl. The major conclusions follow. (i) The WBC and platelet values of healthy HIV-negative Ethiopians are lower than the adopted reference values of Ethiopia. (ii) The absolute CD4 T-cell counts of healthy HIV-negative Ethiopians are considerably lower than those of the Dutch controls, while the opposite is true for the absolute CD8 T-cell counts. This results in a significantly reduced CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio for healthy Ethiopians, compared to the ratio for Dutch controls.
authors.affiliation: Ethiopian-Netherlands AIDS Research Project, Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. enarp@telecom.net.et
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsegaye
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Messele
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tilahun
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sahlu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doorly
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Fontanet
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Rinke de Wit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006400:Hematocrit; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000592:standards*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D010976:Platelet Count; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins