AN IMMUNOCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE ALBUMINS OF SERUM, URINE, ASCITIC FLUID AND EDEMA FLUID IN THE NEPHROTIC SYNDROME 12

Abstract

An immunochemical study was made of the serum albumin of 11 children with the nephrotic syndrome, employing rabbit and horse antisera. The albumins of the ascitic fluid from 8 of these patients and an additional patient, of the urine from 6 patients and of the edema fluid from 2 patients were studied also. In all instances, the nephrotic albumin was immuno-chemically indistinguishable from crystallized normal human serum albumin. The avg. albumin level in the serum of the nephrotic patients studied, as detd. immunochemically, was 0.3 g.%, with levels ranging from 0.09 g.% to about 0.6 g.%. The serum albumin of a patient with severe chronic glomerulo-nephritis was also immunochemically indistinguishable from normal serum albumin. However, the serum albumin concn. in this patient was 1.57 g.%.