Albumin Synthesis

SERUM albumin is the major protein produced in the liver, comprising as much as 50 per cent of the productive effort at any one moment. The concentration of this protein in the plasma has long been used as a bellwether 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; . . .