Concentrations of 34 biochemical constituents of sera were determined on 998 randomly selected urban school children and adolescents aged 8-18 years from Zagreb, Croatia. Reference intervals were obtained by using non-parametric methods to estimate 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles of distribution as upper and lower normal reference intervals, according to the IFCC recommendations. These were compared to reference intervals in the healthy adult population, aged 20-30 years from the same geographical area. Serum glucose, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, total serum proteins and electrophoretic fractions, and amylase, did not show age or sex differences; total serum bilirubin, total calcium, phosphate, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, total iron binding capacity, unsaturated iron binding capacity, copper, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, cholinesterase, creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase had higher reference intervals than the adult population. Urea, creatinine, urate, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides had lower reference intervals than the adult population.

The present study provides evidence of the association of the ACE gene polymorphisms and premature hypertension. In addition, BMI proved to be another important predictor of the disorder acting independently of the ACE gene.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) as a non-specific inflammatory biomarker has been demonstrated to actively contribute to all stages of atherogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between CRP concentrations and the severity of stenosis of cerebral arteries. Methods: Lipid parameters and CRP levels were measured in the sera of 119 patients with stenosis of the extracranial cerebral arteries established by angiography and compared with the control group, with a normal appearance of the cerebral arteries on ultrasound examination. CRP concentrations were determined by a high-sensitivity assay. Results: CRP concentrations showed a statistically significant difference in the group of patients with cerebrovascular stenosis of more than 70% compared to the control group (median value 3.4 vs. 1.5 mg/l in the control group, p < 0.05). At logistic regression analysis, CRP was significantly associated with stenosis of more than 70%. Conclusion: In addition to traditional biochemical risk markers, an elevated CRP level measured on automated analysers using a high-sensitivity assay may be useful in the detection of patients with severe stenosis of the cerebral arteries.

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