Parathyroid hormone reference intervals revisited: a data-driven approach for age-related reference intervals in...

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) plays a critical role in calcium-phosphate homeostasis. Accurate interpretation of PTH levels requires reliable reference intervals (RIs). Our aim was to establish RIs for PTH using real-world data from a high-volume tertiary care laboratory.

This retrospective study included 22,662 adults aged 18-79 years, selected from 47,311 individuals who presented to the Islab-2 central laboratory between January 2021 and April 2025. Patients were excluded if they were referred from nephrology, endocrinology, or general surgery clinics, or if they had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², vitamin D < 50 or > 250 nmol/L, albumin < 35 or > 55 g/L, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) > 150 U/L, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 50 U/L, phosphate < 0.8 or > 1.45 mmol/L, or calcium < 2.15 or > 2.6 mmol/L. All biochemical analyses were performed using the Roche Cobas® 8000 system (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). Outliers were excluded using Horn's method with Tukey's interquartile fences (k = 1.5), and the need for partitioning by age, sex, or season was evaluated with the Harris-Boyd z-tests. The RIs were calculated using a non-parametric method along with their 2.5th and 97.5th percentile values with 90 % confidence intervals (CIs).

PTH RIs increased with age. Compared to the manufacturer's non-age-stratified RI (1.6-6.9 pmol/L), 61 % of patients aged > 50 previously classified as hyperparathyroid were reclassified as normal using age-adjusted RIs. Additionally, up to a 43 % difference in the upper reference limit (URL) was observed when comparing the URL of the youngest age group (18-29 years) with those of the oldest age group (60-79 years).

Age-specific PTH RIs are essential for accurate diagnosis, particularly in older adults, where uniform thresholds may lead to misclassification of normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism. Implementing these RIs could optimize clinical decision-making and reduce unnecessary interventions. Further validation across diverse populations and assay platforms is warranted.