Abstract
Serum albumin is the major protein produced in the liver, comprising as much as 50% of the productive effort at any one moment. The concentration of this protein in the plasma has long been used as an indicator of health and disease. Yet it must be remembered that the serum albumin level is only the complex end result of synthesis, degradation, and distribution. The basic properties of albumin were recognized as early as 1837 by Ancell,1 who noted that “albumen” was needed for transport functions, for maintaining fluidity of the vascular system, and for the prevention of edema, and who recorded values for protein levels in different age groups and species, and in males and females. These fine early observations have not been proved wrong during the past 140 years.
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Rothschild, M.A., Oratz, M. (1976). Albumin Synthesis and Degradation. In: Allison, A.C. (eds) Structure and Function of Plasma Proteins. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2679-3_3
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