title: Bile acid concentration reference ranges in a pregnant Latina population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The total bile acid (TBA) concentration criterion for diagnosing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy varies in the published literature. The purpose of this study was to establish pregnancy-specific reference ranges for the TBA concentration among Latina women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-identified Latina women (n = 211) over 18 years of age with a singleton pregnancy were recruited and had random serum samples drawn during the second and third trimesters. The total and fractionated bile acid concentrations were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and reference ranges were calculated. Laboratory-provided general reference ranges from a general population of adult men and nonpregnant women were used for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The TBA reference range for our Latina pregnant population (<8.5 µmol/L) was markedly lower than the laboratory-provided reference range (4.5 to 19.2 µmol/L).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that the upper TBA concentration reference range in our Latina pregnant population is 8.5 µmol/L, based on LC-MS/MS measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. richarhl@usc.edu
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ouzounian
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Incerpi
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Caulfield
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reitz
authors.forename: Frank Z
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Stanczyk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid / Q000097:blood; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D019826:Cholic Acid / Q000097:blood; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003840:Deoxycholic Acid / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second / Q000097:blood; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third / Q000097:blood; D012016:Reference Values; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D003840:Deoxycholic Acid; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid; D019826:Cholic Acid