METABOLIC STUDIES ON PROTEIN-DEPLETED PATIENTS RECEIVING A LARGE PART OF THEIR NITROGEN INTAKE FROM HUMAN SERUM ALBUMIN ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY 12

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Abstract
Each of 4 subjects received a daily dose of 60 g. of concd. Ni-free albumin intraven. for 10 days or more. Balances of N, Ca, P, and K were made during control, albumin, and post-albumin periods. Con-comitant observations were made of serum protein fractions, plasma volume and renal function. Individual variations noted in response were: the development of an intense proteinuria in a patient convalescent from rheumatic fever, without evidence of impaired renal function; the retention of water with peripheral edema, hydrothorax and pericardial effusion, and poor utilization of the injd. protein in a woman with presumably generalized vascular disease; the excellent utilization but eventual development of signs of cardio-respiratory embarrassment in a young woman in fair health except for moderate undernutrition; and the modification of the response in a normal young male by other dietary factors. The probably mechanisms of these reactions are discussed. Proteinuria will probably develop eventually in any patient when saturation with albumin has occurred. This probably does not reflect renal damage, but represents a physiological response when the max. reabsorptive capacity of the renal tubules for protein is exceeded.