Reference ranges and diagnostic thresholds of laboratory markers of cardiac damage and dysfunction in a population of apparently healthy black Africans.
BACKGROUND
Due to the increasing migration flows mostly concerning Western countries, the problem of reference ranges and cut-off values is a living matter. In particular, the influence of ethnic origin on traditional and novel biochemical markers of cardiac damage, including cardiac troponin T (cTnT), ischemia modified albumin (IMA) and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), has not been investigated, to the best of our knowledge.


METHODS
CTnT, NT-proBNP and IMA were assayed by a Modular System in 34 apparently healthy black Africans originating mainly from Central Africa and in 34 apparently healthy white, non-immigrant Italians, matched for age and sex.


RESULTS
All the subjects investigated displayed cTnT values < 0.01 ng/mL. Black Africans displayed significantly increased concentrations of serum IMA (107 vs. 92 kU/L, p < 0.0001), but not of NT-proBNP (4.9 vs. 3.8 pmol/L, p = 0.4), as compared to the white, nonimmigrant Italians.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our investigation indicate that the reference ranges and the thresholds values of IMA, but not those of cTnT and NT-proBNP, may be different according to the ethnic origin of the population. Therefore, although the current decisional thresholds of both cTnT and NT-proBNP may be appropriate for diagnosing cardiac damage and dysfunction in the black African population, that of IMA may require a revision toward higher values.
Montagnana
Martina
M
Sezione di Chimica Clinica, Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Biomediche, Universitá degli Studi di Verona, Verona, Italy. martina.montagnana@med.lu.se
Lippi
Giuseppe
G
Salvagno
Gian Luca
GL
Guidi
Gian Cesare
GC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D044383:Black People; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D044465:White People
D015415:Biomarkers