Children's blood tests may need new standards as protein levels shift with age

MedicalXpress | أبر 22, 2026

Blood protein levels change markedly already during childhood and adolescence, and differences between girls and boys become increasingly pronounced with age. This is shown by a new study published in Nature Communications from Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with colleagues from SciLifeLab and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The results suggest that blood protein levels change over the course of a lifetime, rendering adult reference values inadequate for children and adolescents.