An investigation of serum proteins of Africans in Uganda

Abstract

The serum protein levels of a group of Africans attending Mulago hospital for minor or constitutional surgical conditions have been examined. It has been observed that, compared with accepted “normal” standards, the albumin is low and the globulin is high: the A/G ratio is less than unity. There is a correlation between red blood count and serum proteins, in the sense that as red blood count rises, albumin increases, total globulin falls, and A/G ratio rises. An important factor in the fall in total globulin with rising red count is a fall in β globulin. The α and γ globulin fractions remain relatively constant; if they fall, they do not do so to an extent which is statistically significant in this series. Both the α and γ globulin fractions are notably higher than the figures found in the literature and than those of a series of Europeans resident in Kampala examined by the same methods.