ABSTRACT
To determine the reference range of zinc in adult population [age range 20 to 29 years] of Lahore. It was a descriptive cross sectional study which was carried out from Jan- August 2012 in Chemical Pathology Department of University of Health Sciences, Lahore. Serum zinc concentration was measured by name atomic absorption spectrometry in randomly selected 450 healthy adults aged 20 to 29 years. After application of exclusion criteria reference values were determined in apparently healthy subjects according to guidelines of International Federation of Clinical Chemistry. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Serum Zn levels was expressed as Mean +/- SD. A total of 450 healthy subjects were included in this study. Out of these, 234 were females. Mean age was 25 +/- 0.13years. The mean concentration of zinc in serum of healthy individual was 24.02 +/- 7.03 pol/L [rangel 1.47-36.72]. The mean +/- SD for males subjects were 22.33 +/- 6.42 pmol/L[range11.93-32.4]. Similarly the mean +/- SD for females were 21.72 +/- 7.34 pmol/L [range9.94-36.87]. This study presents reference range for serum zinc concentration in adult population of Lahore. The results showed that there is significant difference in serum level of zinc among different countries. This study will help us in establishing reference ranges of trace elements on larger population in future
ABSTRACT
Vitamin D deficiency is a major health problem worldwide. In healthy subjects, vitamin D deficiency causes an increase in serum parathyroid hormone [PDH] level in response to hypocalcemia that in turn effectively restores serum calcium and phosphorus levels. However, the response in adult female in vitamin D deficient population in particular has not been studied especially in our set up. The objectives of this study were to determine the levels of iPTH and magnesium in vitamin D deficient adult females, among a sector of population living in a suburban area of Lahore. A total of 125 asymptomatic apparently healthy women [aged 20 - 60 years] were included in this study. Subjects were randomly selected from the Shalamar / Mughalpura area in Lahore. The research was started after taking permission from ethical committee of UHS. In a total of 125 subjects, 59 [47%] had deficient, 41 [33%] had insufficient and 25 [20%] had sufficient levels of vitamin D. The serum iPTH level in vitamin D deficient women was significantly higher and an inverse correlation existed between vitamin D and iPTH. Magnesium levels, on the other hand deteriorated only with severe deficiency of vitamin D. This study indicates that serum iPTH is a better marker of detection of low vitamin D states, as compared to serum calcium and phosphorus levels which remain normal. Furthermore, magnesium levels must be monitored in vitamin D deficiency because of its implications in bone metabolism, muscular and cardiac activity