Veterinary Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnosis-II

ABNORMAL PLASMA PROTEINS - HYPOPROTEINEMIA

Abnormal Protein Concentration

• The liver synthesizes of albumin, fibrinogen, prothrombin and most of the globulins particularly alpha and beta globulins.
• The gamma globulins are synthesized in the lymphoid organs.
• The normal range of total protein levels in most of the animals ranges between 5 and 8 g/dL.
• Edema develops when the total protein concentration in plasma falls below 5g/dL.  

Hypoproteinemia: (decreased protein concentration)

• Hypoalbuminemia with hypoglobulinemia: It may be due to decreased concentrations of albumin, globulin or both.
• Blood loss
  • Due to proportional loss of all blood constituents, interstitial fluid moves into the circulatory system and dilutes the remaining blood causing a decrease in the level of albumin and globulin.
• Protein losing entropy
  • During a variety of intestinal lesions both albumin and globulin leak from the intestinal wall into the intestinal lumen and then are digested or excreted.
• Severe exudative skin disease
  • This results from vascular permeability that allows both albumin and globulin to escape from the blood.
• Severe burns
  • These cause increased vascular permeability that can result in loss of both albumin and globulin.
• Effusive disease
  • This results in the accumulation of body cavity fluids with high protein concentrations that can result in decreased albumin and globulin concentrations.
  • The decrease depends on the degree of increased vascular permeability.
  • Hypoalbuminemia with normal to increased globulin concentrations.
  • The deceased albumin concentration can result from either decreased production or increased loss of albumin.
  • If the concentration of globulin is increased the total protein level may be normal.
• Decreased production of Albumin can occur in the following disorders:
  • Hepatic Failure
  • Starvation
  • Gastrointestinal Parasitism
  •  Malabsorption
  • Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI)
  • • Inadequate digestion of dietary proteins can result from EPI, in which amino acids are not liberated from the protein by digestion in the intestine, so they are not available for absorption.
    • Decreased albumin production.
• Increased loss of proteins can occur in the following disorder
  • Glomerular Diseases
    • Albumin are smaller than globulin, they leak more readily through damaged glomerular membrane.