hypoalbuminaemia
hypoalbuminaemia
see also:
Introduction
- hypoalbuminaemia is often a marker of general illness and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates
- albumin is a negative acute phase reactant in that serum levels FALL during acute inflammatory responses
- albumin is a highly water-soluble protein, located mainly in the extra-cellular space, with a total body pool of approximately 300 g (3.5 to 5.3 g/kg) in a normal average man
- albumin has a half-life of approximately 20 days
- serum albumen levels are determined by the net reult of:
- rate of synthesis by the liver
- reduced due to:
- long term protein malnutrition
- inflammatory disease
- rate of breakdown
- increase rate of breakdown during inflammation or liver disease
- body pool size
- hence short term reduced protein intake is unlikely to decrease levels due to the relatively low turnover rate (long half life) and the large pool size
- volume of distribution
- exchange between intravascular and extravascular spaces
- concentrations may actually increase during short-term fasting because of contraction of the intravascular space
- losses from the body
- renal as in nephrotic syndrome
- large area burns
Aetiology
- acute phase response eg. severe infection
- chronic liver disease
- protein malnutrition
- urine losses - nephrotic syndrome
- skin losses - large burns
- capillary leakage resulting in systemic oedema
- some autoimmune diseases
- ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
- viral hemorrhagic fevers
- differentiation retinoic acid syndrome in those with APML leukaemia
- haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
- ricin poisoning
- some snakebites
- chemotherapy such as with gemcitabine and tagraxofusp
- certain interleukins and monoclonal antibodies
hypoalbuminaemia.txt · Last modified: 2021/06/13 00:27 by gary1