This chart gives a quick overview of what is normal and the conditions that result in high or low values.
		Possible Significance
Test	Normal Values	Increases	Decreases
Hematology
Aspartate aminotrans­ferase (AST)—formerly called serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT)	Men: 10-40 U/L Women: 9-25 U/L	Myocardial infarction, cardiac surgery, hepatitis, cirrhosis, trauma, severe burns, progressive muscular dystro­phy, infectious mononucleosis, acute renal failure	Uremia, chronic dialysis, ketoaci­ dosis
Bleeding time—indication of hemostatic efficiency	1-9 min	Hemorrhagic purpura, acute leukemia, aplastic anemia, DIC, oral anticoagu­lant therapy	Uremia, chronic dialysis, ketoaci­ dosis
Hematocrit—volume of packed red blood cells/100 mL of blood	Men: 45% (40-50%) Women: 40% (38-47%	Dehydration, polycythemia, congenital heart disease	Anemia, hemorrhage, leukemia, dietary deficiencies
Hemoglobin—oxygen-combining protein	Men: 13.5-18 g/dL Women: 12-16 g/dL	Same as for Hematocrit	Same as for Hematocrit
Activated partial thrombo­plastin time (aPTT)— tests coagulation mecha­nism; stage I deficiencies	aPTT: 25-41	Deficiency of factors VIII, IX, X, XI, XII; anticoagulant therapy	Extensive cancer, DIC
Platelets—thrombocytes	150,000-400,000/mm³	Polycythemia vera, postsplenectomy, anemia	Leukemia, aplastic anemia, cirrho­sis, multiple myeloma, chemotherapy
Prothrombin time—tests extrinsic clotting; stages II and III	10-13 sec	Anticoagulant therapy, DIC, hepatic dis­ease, malabsorption	Digitalis therapy, diuretic reaction, vitamin K therapy
Red blood cell count— number of circulating erythrocytes in 1 µL of whole blood	Men: 4.5-6.2 million/µL Women: 4.2-5.4 million/ µL	Polycythemia vera, anoxia, dehydration	Lukemia, Hemorrhage, anemias, Hodgkin's
Sedimentation rate—speed at which red blood cells settle in uncoagu-lated blood	Men: 0-15 mm/hr Women: 0-20 mm/hr	Acute bacterial infection, cancer, infec­tious disease, numerous inflamma­tory states	Polycythemia vera, sickle cell anemia
White blood cell count— number of leukocytes in 1 µL	4.5-11 X 10³/µL	Leukemia, bacterial infection, severe sepsis	Viral infection, overwhelming bacterial infection, lupus ery­thematosus, antineoplastic chemotherapy, bone marrow depression
White blood cell differential—enumeration of individual leukocyte distribution
Neutrophils	56% mean cell count 1800-7800/µL	Bacterial infection, tumor, inflamma­tion, stress, drug reaction, trauma, metabolic disorders	Acute viral infection, anorexia nervosa, radiation therapy, drug induced, alcoholic ingestion
Eosinophils	2.7% cell count 0-450/µL	Allergic disorder, parasitic infestation, eosinophilic leukemia	Acute or chronic stress; excess ACTH, cortisone, or epineph­rine; endocrine disorder
Basophils	25-100/(xL,or0-l% cell count 0-200/µL	Myeloproliferative disease, leukemia	Anaphylactic reaction, hyperthy­roidism, radiation therapy, in­fections, ovulation, pregnancy, aging
Lymphocytes	20-40% cell count 1000-4800/µL	Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, infec­tious mononucleosis, chronic bacter­ial infection, viral infection	Leukemia, systemic lupus erythe­matosus, immune deficiency disorders
Blood Chemistry
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)	32-92 U/L	Hyperparathyroidism, Paget's disease, cancer with bone metastasis, obstruc­tive jaundice, cirrhosis, hepatitis A, rickets	Malnutrition, scurvy, celiac dis­ease, chronic nephritis, hy­pothyroidism, cystic fibrosis
Amylase	80-180 IU/L	Acute pancreatitis, mumps, duodenal ulcer, pancreatic cancer, perforated bowel, renal failure	Advanced chronic pancreatitis, chronic alcoholism
Bilirubin, serum	Direct: 0.0-0.4 mg/dL Indirect: 0.2-0.8 mg/dL Total: 0.3-1.0 mg/dL	Massive hemolysis, low-grade hemolytic disease, cirrhosis, obstructive liver disease, hepatitis, biliary obstruction, neonatal (physiological) jaundice
Calcium, serum	8.2-10.2 mg/dL	Hyperparathyroidism, multiple myeloma, bone metastasis, bone frac­ture, thiazide-diuretic reaction, milk-alkali syndrome	Hypoparathyroidism, renal failure, pregnancy, massive transfusion
Carbon dioxide	22-30 mEq/L	Emphysema, salicylate toxicity, vomiting	Starvation, diarrhea
Chloride, serum	98-107 mEq/L	Hyperventilation, diabetes insipidus,	Heart failure, pyloric obstruction, hypoventilation, vomiting, chronic respiratory acidosis
Creatine, serum	Men: 0.7-1.3 mg/dL Women: 0.5-1.0 mg/dL	Chronic glomerulonephritis, nephritis, heart failure, muscle disease	Debilitation, long-term corticos­teroid therapy
Creatine kinase (CK) (creatine phosphoki-nase [CPK]) Isoenzymes	Men: 17-148 IU/L Women: 10-79 IU/L	Acute myocardial infarction, acute stroke, convulsions, surgery, muscular dystrophy, hypokalemia	Addison's disease
CPK-MM/CK-MM	100%	Muscular dystrophy, delirium tremens, surgery, hypokalemia, crush injuries, hypothyroidism
CPK/MB/CK-MB	0.6% of total CPK	Acute myocardial infarction, cardiac defibrillation, myocarditis, cardiac ischemia
CPK-BB/CK-BB	0%	Pulmonary infarction, brain surgery, stroke, pulmonary embolism, seizures, intestinal ischemia
Fibrinogen, serum	0.2-0.4 g/lOOdL or 200-400 mg/dL	Pneumonia, acute infection, nephrosis, rheumatoid arthritis	Cirrhosis, toxic liver necrosis, anemia, obstetric complica­tions, DIC, advanced carcinoma
Glucose (fasting)	60-110 mg/lOOmL (serum)	Acute stress, Cushing's syndrome, hy­perthyroidism, acute or chronic pan­creatitis, diabetes mellitus, hyper­glycemia	Addison's disease, liver disease, re­active hypoglycemia, pituitary hypofunction
Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc)	4.0-7.0%	Newly diagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes mellitus	Iron deficiency anemia, chronic blood loss
Iron-binding capacity (total)	218-385 g/dL	Lead poisoning, hepatic necrosis
Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH)	60-120 U/mL (Wacker Scale) 150-450 U/mL (Wroblewski)	Myocardial infarction, pernicious ane­mia, chronic viral hepatitis, pneumo­nia, pulmonary emboli, stroke, renal tissue destruction, leukemia, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, shock, trauma
LDH-1	17-27%
LDH-2	27-37%
LDH-3	18-25%
LDH-4	3-8%
LDH-5	6-16%
Lipids
Cholesterol (total serum) Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) High-density lipoprotein (HDL) Triglycerides	<200 mg/dL < 130 mg/dL 35-75 mg/dL 40-150 mg/100 mL	Hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipidemia, myocardial infarction, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, high-cholesterol diet, hypothyroidism, atherosclerosis, stress, glomerulonephritis (nephrotic stage), familial biliary obstruction	Malnutrition, cholesterol-lowering medication, anemia, liver dis­ease, hyperthyroidism
Phosphorus, inorganic serum	3.0-4.5 mg/dL	Chronic glomerular disease, hy­poparathyroidism, milk-alkali syn­drome, sarcoidosis	Hyperparathyroidism, rickets, os­teomalacia, renal tubular necro­sis, malabsorption syndrome, vitamin D deficiency
Potassium, serum	3.5-5.0 mEq/L	Diabetic ketosis, renal failure, Addison's disease, excessive intake	Thiazide diuretics, Cushing's syn­drome, cirrhosis with ascites, hyperaldosteronism, steroid therapy, malignant hyperten­sion, poor dietary habits, chronic diarrhea, diaphoresis, renal tubular necrosis, malab­sorption syndrome, vomiting
Protein, serum (albumin/globulin)	Total: 6.4-8.3 g/dL Albumin: 3.5-5.0 g/dL Globulin: 2.8-4.4 g/dL	Dehydration, multiple myeloma	Chronic liver disease, myeloprolif­erative disease, burns
Serum glutamic ox­aloacetic transaminase (SGOT)
Sodium, serum	136-145 mEq/L	Increased intake, either orally or IV; Cushing's syndrome, excessive sweat­ing, diabetes insipidus	Addison's disease, sodium-losing nephropathy, vomiting, diar­rhea, fistulas, tube drainage, burns, renal insufficiency with acidosis, starvation with acido­sis, paracentesis, thoracentesis, ascites, heart failure, SIADH
T3 uptake	24-34%	Hyperthyroidism, thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) deficiency	Hypothyroidism, pregnancy, TBG excess
Thyroxine	5-12 M-g/dL	Hyperthyroidism, pregnancy	Hypothyroidism, renal failure
Urea nitrogen, serum (BUN)	5-20 mg/dL	Acute or chronic renal failure, heart failure, obstructive uropathy, dehy­dration	Cirrhosis, malnutrition
Uric acid, serum	Men: 4.5-8 mg/dL Women: 2.5-6.2 mg/dL	Gout, chronic renal failure, starvation, diuretic therapy
Blood Gases
Bicarbonate (HC02;)	21-28 mEq/L	Metabolic alkalosis	Metabolic acidosis
Carbon dioxide pressure (Pco2), whole blood, arterial	35-45 mm Hg	Primary respiratory acidosis, loss of H+ through nasogastric suctioning or vomiting	Primary respiratory alkalosis
Oxygen pressure (Po2), whole blood, arterial	80-100 mm Hg	Oxygen administration in the absence of severe lung disease	Chronic obstructive lung disease, severe pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary edema, respiratory muscle disease
pH, serum	7.35-7.45	Metabolic alkalosis-alkali ingestion, respiratory alkalosis-hyperventilation	Metabolic acidosis-ketoacidosis, shock, respiratory acidosis-alveolar hypoventilation
Immunodiagnostic Studies
Carcinoembryonic antigen	<2.5 ng/mL	Cancer of: colon, lung, metastatic breast, pancreas, stomach, prostate, ovary, bladder, limbs; also neuroblastoma, leukemias, osteogenic carcinoma; non-cancer conditions such as: hepatic cirrhosis, uremia, pancreatitis, colorectal, polyposis, peptic ulcer disease, ulcerative colitis, regional enteritis
Urinalysis
pH	4.5-7.8	Metabolic alkalosis	Metabolic acidosis
Specific gravity	1.003-1.029	Dehydration, pituitary tumor, hypotension	Distal renal tubular disease, polycystic kidney disease, diabetes insipidus, overhydration
Glucose	Negative	Diabetes mellitus
Protein	Negative	Nephrosis, glomerulonephritis, lupus erythematosus
Casts	0-0.4 hyaline casts per LPF	Nephrosis, glomerulonephritis, lupus erythematosus, infection
Red blood cells	Negative	Renal calculi, hemorrhagic cystitis, tumors of the kidney
White blood cells	Negative	Inflammation of the kidneys, ureters, or bladder
Color	Normal yellow, clear	Abnormal: red to reddish brown—hema-turia; brown to brownish gray—biliru-binuria or urobilinuria; tea colored— possible obstructive jaundice	Almost colorless: chronic kidney disease, diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus
Sodium	40-220 mEq/L/24 hr	Salt-wasting renal disease, SIADH, dehydration	Heart failure, primary aldosteronism
Chloride	110-250 mEq/24hr	Chronic obstructive lung disease, dehydration, salicylate toxicity	Gastric suction, heart failure, emphysema
Potassium	25-125 mEq/L/24 hr	Diuretic therapy	Renal failure
Creatinine clearance	90-139 mL/min		Renal disease
Hydroxycorticosteroids	2-10 mg/24 hr	Cushing's disease	Addison's disease
17-Ketosteroids	Men: 4.5-12 mg/24 hr Women: 2.5-10 mg/24 hr	Hirsutism, adrenal hyperplasia	Thyrotoxicosis, Addison's disease
Catecholamines (VMA)	Epinephrine: <20 u.g/24 hr Norepinephrine: <100 u.g/24 hr	Pheochromocytoma, severe anxiety, numerous medications
Urine Test
Schilling test	Excretion of 8-40% or more of test dose should appear in urine		Gastrointestinal malabsorption, pernicious anemia