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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Noninvasive Sampling of Mucosal Lining Fluid for the Quantification of In Vivo Upper Airway Immune-mediator Levels
Published on: August 7, 2017
[Serum mannan-binding lectin levels in preschool children from Shenzhen]
Wei-Dong Chen1, Qin Xiao, De-Xue Zou
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518036, China. bayyyz@yahoo.com.cn
Objective:
Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a C-type serum lectin that plays a central role in the innate immune response. At present there is no a reference range of serum MBL levels for children in China. This study investigated serum MBL levels in preschool children from Shenzhen.
Methods:
A total of 118 children (62 boys and 56 girls) at ages of 3-6 years and sampled randomly from three kindergartens of Shenzhen were enrolled in this study. Serum MBL concentrations were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
The mean serum MBL concentration in these children was 779.07+/-268.98 ng/mL. There were no significant differences in the value of serum MBL between boys and girls (783.89+/-252.30 ng/mL vs 773.65+/-288.29 ng/mL) (P>0.05). Sixteen children (13.6%) had MBL concentrations less than 500 ng/mL (the low limited value used abroad), including 14 cases with 50-500 ng/mL and 2 cases with less than 50 ng/mL.
Conclusions:
This study provides a reference range of serum MBL concentration for preschool children. MBL may be a useful marker for the prevention of infection in children.

