Abstract
Reference values were established for urinary and plasma cortisol in healthy persons, in the ages from newborn till adulthood, using a protein binding technique. We found an increase in the plasma cortisol level during the first months of life (10–30 ug/1 with 1–3 m, 30–75 ug/l with 3–6 m and 30–150 ug/l till the ages of 12m). For persons in the ages of 1–30 years a range of 65–220 ug/l was detected for plasma cortisol if the blood collection was performed at 8 a.m.
For urinary cortisol in contrary a continuous increase, well correlated with body maturation was found. For children in the ages of 1–12 m a urinary cortisol level of 1–12 ug/d was detected, in adults the urinary cortisol excretion reaches a level of 20–90 ug/d.
Reference values for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cortisol could only be established on patients in whom a lumbar puncture was necessary for diagnosis. From all patients blood was collected for cortisol measurement before spinal puncture was performed. Patients with a normal number of cells and a normal level of glucose and proteins in the CSF served as reference group. It was found that the cortisol level is more or less independent from the age and lies in the range of 1–20 ug/l, or, if correlated to the plasma cortisol level, CSF cortisol lies below 6% of the plasma cortisol. In patients with cerebral alterations an increase in CSF cortisol was estimated.
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Kellerer, K., Fellier, H. & Gleispach, H. REFERENCE VALUES FOR CORTISOL IN URINE, PLASMA AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID DEPENDING ON AGE. Pediatr Res 9, 670 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00037