Each commercial laboratory has its own set of
"normal" values, called "Normal Range" or
"Reference Range" on your lab report. These values
depend on the equipment or method used. Compare your results to
the range shown on your lab report. Results that are "out
of range" may not represent a problem. Your test results
can be affected by several factors, including your age or gender,
if you are pregnant, the time of day when the sample was taken,
active infectons, stage of HIV disease, and food (some test
samples need to be taken after you have fasted -- not eaten
anything -- for several hours). Where normal values for men and
women are different, they are indicated as W for women and M for
men. Discuss "out of range" results with your
health care provider.
The table below compares the units used in the United States
with the "Système International d'Unités (SI units), a
metric system used in many parts of the world. The last column,
"To Convert US to SI Units," is the factor to multiply US lab
values to convert them to SI units. To convert SI units to US
units, divide the SI value by the conversion factor. See below for a terminology list.
Normal Laboratory Values
Laboratory Test
Normal Range in US Units
Normal Range in SI Units
To Convert US to SI Units
ALT (Alanine aminotransferase)
W 7-30 units/liter
M 10-55 units/liter
W 0.12-0.50 µkat/liter
M 0.17-0.92 µkat/liter
x 0.01667
Albumin
3.1 - 4.3 g/dl
31 - 43 g/liter
x 10
Alkaline Phosphatase
W 30-100 units/liter
M 45-115 units/liter
W 0.5-1.67 µkat/liter
W 0.75-1.92 µkat/liter
x 0.01667
Amylase (serum)
53-123 units/liter
0.88-2.05 nkat/liter
x 0.01667
AST (Aspartate aminotransferase)
W 9-25 units/liter
M 10-40 units/liter
W 0.15-0.42 µkat/liter
M 0.17-0.67 µkat/liter
x 0.01667
Basophils
0-3% of lymphocytes
0.0-0.3 fraction of white blood cells
x 0.01
Bilirubin - Direct
0.0-0.4 mg/dl
0-7 µmol/liter
x 17.1
Bilirubin - Total
0.0-1.0 mg/dl
0-17 µmol/liter
x 17.1
Blood pressure
Normal: 120/70 to 120/80 millimeters of mercury
(mmHg). The top number is systolic pressure, when the heart is
pumping. Bottom number is diastolic pressure then the heart is at
rest. Blood pressure can be too low (hypotension) or too high
(hypertension).
No conversion
C peptide
0.5-2.0 ng/ml
0.17-0.66 nmol/liter
x 0.33
Calcium, serum
8.5 -10.5 mg/dl
2.1-2.6 mmol/liter
x 0.25
Calcium, urine
0-300 mg/24h
0.0-7.5 mmol/24h
x 0.025
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Cholesterol, total
Desirable
Marginal
High
239 mg/dL
6.18 mmol/liter
x 0.02586
Cholesterol, LDL
Desirable
Marginal
High
Very High
gram : common measurement of weight. Used in this
table: pg (picograms), g (grams), mg (milligrams), etc. per
liter katal (kat) : a unit of catalytic activity, used
especially in the chemistry of enzymes. Used in this table:
µkat (microkatals), nkat (nanokatals) per liter micrometer (µm) : a unit of length. Mean Corpuscular
Volume is expressed in cubic micrometers mole : also "gram molecular weight," a
quantity based on the atomic weight of the substance. Many test
results in the Système Internationale are expressed as the
number of moles per liter. In US units, these measurements are
usually in grams per liter. Used in this table: mmol
(millimoles), µmol, (micromoles), nmol (nanomoles), pmol
(picomoles) per liter
Some units of measurement include the following fractions and
multipliers: mega (M) : 10 6 or x1,000,000 kilo (k) : 10 3 or x1,000 deca or deka : 10 1 or x10 deci (d) : 10 -1 or ÷10 milli (m) : 10 -3 or ÷1,000 micro (µ) : 10 -6 or
÷1,000,000 nano (n) : 10 -9 or ÷1,000,000,000 pico (p) : 10 -12 or
÷1,000,000,000,000
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