Reference intervals for serum osteocalcin concentrations in adult men and women from the study of health in Pomerania

Table 4 Reference intervals (2.5th – 97.5th percentiles) for the serum osteocalcin concentration in five-year age groups

Age group [years]	All men (N = 1107)	Men without diabetes mellitus and with BMI 18–30 kg/m²(N = 716)	Women	All women (N = 545 premenopausal N = 498 postmenopausal)	Women without hormone intake, without diabetes mellitus and with BMI 18–30 kg/m²(N = 440 premenopausal N = 255 postmenopausal)
	Reference interval [ng/mL]	Reference interval [ng/mL]	Menopausal status	Reference interval [ng/mL]	Reference interval [ng/mL]
25-29	11.2 - 36.7	11.4 - 36.2	Premenopausal	9.7 - 38.7	12.6 - 39.5
30-34	10.2 - 34.4	10.6 - 34.5		8.4 - 34.8	9.8 - 37.0
35-39	9.2 - 32.5	9.9 - 33.1		7.6 - 31.9	8.1 - 35.0
40-44	8.4 - 31.0	9.2 - 31.9		7.3 - 29.7	7.6 - 33.5
45-49	7.7 - 29.9	8.6 - 31.1		7.6 - 28.4	8.2 - 32.6
50-54	7.2 - 29.2	8.1 - 30.5		8.4 - 28.0	9.8 - 32.1
			Postmenopausal (all ages)	8.0 - 40.9	10.4 - 43.8
55-59	6.8 - 28.8	7.7 - 30.3
60-64	6.6 - 28.8	7.3 - 30.3
65-69	6.5 - 29.2	7.0 - 30.6
70-74	6.5 - 30.0	6.7 - 31.2
75-80	6.7 - 31.2	6.5 - 32.1

Reference limits for men and premenopausal women were determined by quantile regression and are displayed for five-year age groups. For postmenopausal women 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles were determined irrespective of age. Subjects with diabetes mellitus or BMI <18 or >30 kg/m² and women using oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy had significantly lower serum OC concentrations than normal weight subjects without diabetes mellitus and women without intake of oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy. The exclusion of subjects with diabetes mellitus, BMI <18 or >30 kg/m^2, and women taking oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy shifted the distribution of serum osteocalcin concentrations and the reference intervals to higher values.

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