Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1418288

Reference ranges of clinical laboratory tests in Chinese athletes

Provisionally accepted
Xiaohong Zhang Xiaohong Zhang 1*Shengqiang Wang Shengqiang Wang 2*Jing Li Jing Li 1*Shu Liu Shu Liu 1*Xuedong Shang Xuedong Shang 1*Weiping Song Weiping Song 1*Jingzhu Nan Jingzhu Nan 3*Qi Han Qi Han 4*
  • 1 General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
  • 2 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
  • 4 Sports Nutrition Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To assist athletes in better understanding their physiological states and enhance sports performance, we have established a reference range for clinical laboratory blood tests specific to elite Chinese athletes.Methods: 8,919 samples collected from 3,054 elite athletes (1,488 males and 1,566 females, with average ages of 21.9 ± 4.2 and 19.9 ± 4.3 years, respectively) from 29 sports disciplines who underwent health examinations at a sport-specific hospital from 2015 to 2021 were included. The subgroups classification is in accordance to the Chinese National Health Commission, according to gender and age groups. Datasets were analyzed using SPSS17.0. The non-parametric reference intervals were presented using 95% confidence intervals, and the Mann-Whitney U rank sum test was used for comparison between groups. P < 0.05 was set to indicate statistical significance.Result: Although the upper and lower levels of the included parameters in athletes were different from the reference ranges provided by National Health Commission, the significant difference was only observed in creatine kinase (p < 0.05).The laboratory blood test reference ranges for athletes in this study slightly differ from the general population, and we provided reference ranges of elite Chinese athletes to fill in the gap for the audience who are professionnels in the field sports and exercise. Blood test results of the elite athlete may approach the upper or lower limits of reference ranges established for the general population, with some biomarkers exceeding healthy ranges recommended for non-athlete people. Therefore, long-term adaptation to professional athletic training can alternate the levels of biochemical parameters, blood cell counts, lymphocyte subpopulations, thyroid hormones, and other involved factors in the fasting state.

    Keywords: Reference range, Exercise, Athletes, laboratory test, Physical Examination

    Received: 16 Apr 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Wang, Li, Liu, Shang, Song, Nan and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiaohong Zhang, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
    Shengqiang Wang, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital, Beijing, 100029, Beijing Municipality, China
    Jing Li, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
    Shu Liu, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
    Xuedong Shang, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
    Weiping Song, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing, China
    Jingzhu Nan, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
    Qi Han, Sports Nutrition Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.