title: Reference distributions for complement proteins C3 and C4: a comparison of a large cohort to the world's literature.
abstract: The lack of credible reference materials and satisfactory methods for quantifying serum levels has limited the bedside use of complement protein (C3 and C4) measurements. However, great technological strides have been made in the last few years. The remaining barrier to a more relevant and cost-effective use of serum protein data for diagnosis and prognosis is the availability of reliable reference intervals from birth to old age for both males and females. Fifty-one publications reporting reference intervals were identified that meet the criteria used in our prior four studies, and these were analyzed statistically. Previous small studies with constrained age ranges agree, on average, with our larger series of life-long reference ranges. This meta-analysis provides support for our reference ranges and places them in the context of previous publications.
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Blood Research, Scarborough, Maine 04074, USA. ritchie@fbr.org
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Palomaki
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Neveux
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Navolotskaia
mesh_terms: D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000592:standards*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D003181:Complement C4 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D003181:Complement C4