Veterinary Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnosis

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE 

Clinical Significance

• High albumin levels may be caused by
  • Severe dehydration.
    
• Low albumin levels may be caused by
  • A poor diet (malnutrition).
  • Severe burns
  • Kidney/Liver diseases
  • Autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Gastrointestinal malabsorption syndromes, such as sprue or Crohn's disease.
  • Hodgkin's lymphoma; Uncontrolled diabetes; Hyperthyroidism; Heart failure.
  • Decreased synthesis (malnutrition, malabsorption, liver disease, and other chronic diseases),
  • Increased loss (nephrotic syndrome, many GI conditions, thermal burns, etc.), and
  • Increased catabolism (thyrotoxicosis, cancer chemotherapy, Cushing's disease, familial hypoproteinemia).
    
• High globulin levels may be caused by
  
  • Diseases of the blood, such as multiple myeloma, Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, macroglobulinemia, or hemolytic anemia.
  • Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, autoimmune hepatitis, or sarcoidosis.
  • Kidney and Liver diseases; Tuberculosis.

• Low globulin may be seen in
  •  congenital or acquired hypogammaglobulinemic states.