Reference Value for Serum Zinc Level of Adult Population in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Zinc is an essential trace element that has an enormous role in regulation of physiological processes whose deviant value leads to malfunction in the body. So, establishing a country specific reference value is needed to serve as a standard for the interpretation of laboratory results during clinical decision making. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the reference value of serum zinc level of adult population in Bangladesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The overnight fasting blood was collected from 154 apparently healthy individuals aged 18 to 65 years, from a rural community after considering several criteria. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GF-AAS) method was used for serum zinc analysis. The 2.5(th) and 97.5(th) percentiles of zinc level were calculated for the reference value according to the recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). RESULTS: The estimated reference range of serum zinc level in sample population was 60-120 μg/dL, where the range was 59-125 μg/dL for male and 50-103 μg/dL for female. Significant differences of serum zinc level between male and female (p<0.001) was observed. However, there was no significant correlation between age of the respondents and serum zinc level (r=0.110, p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The estimated reference range for serum zinc level in adult population of Bangladesh can serve as a useful indicator for clinical decision making.