Main findings
In our study we aimed to establish pregnancy-specific reference ranges
for fasting and postprandial TSBA levels. Despite using restrictive
exclusion criteria, we demonstrated that a normal reference range and
upper reference limit in pregnancy are different from those established
for the general non-pregnant population. Compared to the reference range
of normal adults (0.28-6.5 µmol/L)21,36,37, we found
significantly higher fasting TSBA (4.4-14.1 µmol/L) and postprandial
TSBA (4.7-20.2 µmol/L) reference intervals in the pregnant population.
Our study confirms that TSBA levels increase in response to food intake
and that differences between fasting and postprandial measurements are
clinically and statistically significant11,29.