Albumin assay

• Format
  Mixing and diluting are automatically performed by the DIMENSIONÒ system
• Assay Range
  1.58 - 87.2 g/L
• Working Stability 15-25 °C
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• Working Stability 2-8 °C
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• Material Safety Data Sheets
  

Intended Use

For the quantitative in vitro determination of albumin in serum. This product is suitable for use on the Siemens Dimension® and utilises the bromocresol purple method.


Clinical Significance

Albumin is the most abundant serum protein representing 55-65% of the total protein. It is synthesised in the liver and has a half-life of 2 to 3 weeks. The main biological functions of albumin are to maintain the water balance in serum and plasma and to transport and store a wide variety of ligands e.g. fatty acids, calcium, bilirubin and hormones such as thyroxine.

Low levels of albumin in the blood are associated with a variety of diseases. Hypoalbuminaemia (low albumin levels) has been implicated in the following conditions: impaired albumin synthesis in the liver; liver disease; kidney disease; malnutrition or malabsorption; generalised shock; inflammation; burns; dermatitis; intestinal disease and Crohns disease. Hyperalbuminaemia (high albumin levels) has little diagnostic relevance except, perhaps in dehydration.

Some diabetic patients present with complications, such as kidney failure or anaemia, so we at Randox have developed innovative tests that allow the accurate measurement of blood glucose, through secondary markers that are not influenced by such complications. Albumin is a protein with a high binding affinity to glucose. Glycated Albumin (GA) is a glycaemic control marker for diabetes mellitus, reflecting the blood glucose status at 2 to 4 weeks, so is more rapid than HbA1c, which is optimal if measured at 6 to 8 weeks. Albumin measurement allows:

Features and Benefits

• Faster confirmation of results following diet, exercise or medication
• Permits timely adjustment of medication
• Applicable to gestational diabetic patients and diabetic patients with unstable blood glucose levels where HbA1c is not effective
• Suitable for use when HbA1c values are adversely impacted by shortened life spans of red blood cell such is the case in diabetic nephropathy and anaemia. In these cases, HbA1c does not accurately reflect blood glucose status and it has been proven that Glycated albumin gives a more useful check for blood glucose control

Principle/Method

The albumin method is an adaptation of the bromocresol purple (BCP) dye-binding method reported by Carter and Louderback. Due to an enhanced specificity of BCP to albumin this method is not subject to globulin interference. Multiple wavelength blanking increases sensitivity and minimizes spectral interference from lipemia.

In the presence of a solubilising agent, BCP binds to albumin at pH 4.9. The amount of albumin-BCP complex is directly proportional to the albumin concentration. The complex absorbs at 600 nm and is measured using a polychromatic (600, 540, 700 nm) endpoint technique

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