At a Glance
Why Get Tested?
To screen for liver or kidney disease especially in hospitalised patients
When to Get Tested?
If your doctor thinks you have symptoms of liver or kidney disease or prior to a planned surgery
Sample Required?
A blood sample taken from a vein in your arm
Test Preparation Needed?
None
The Test Sample
What is being tested?
Albumin is the most abundant protein in the blood plasma. It keeps fluid from leaking out of blood vessels; nourishes tissues; and carries hormones, vitamins, drugs, and ions like calcium throughout the body. Albumin is made in the liver and its concentration in the blood is sensitive to liver damage. The concentration of albumin in the blood drops when the liver is damaged or with a type of kidney disease called 'nephrotic syndrome if a person experiences severe inflammation in the body, or with shock. The albumin concentration in the blood increases when a person is dehydrated.
How is the sample collected for testing?
A blood sample is taken by a needle from a vein.
NOTE: If undergoing medical tests makes you or someone you care for anxious, embarrassed, or even difficult to manage, you might consider reading one or more of the following articles: Coping with Test Pain, Discomfort, and Anxiety, Tips on Blood Testing, Tips to Help Children through Their Medical Tests, and Tips to Help the Elderly through Their Medical Tests.
Another article, Follow That Sample, provides a glimpse at the collection and processing of a blood sample and throat culture.
Is any test preparation needed to ensure the quality of the sample?
No test preparation is needed.
The Test
How is it used?
Since the concentration of albumin in the blood can be low in many different diseases and disorders, albumin testing is used in a variety of conditions to help diagnose disease, to monitor changes in health status with treatment or with disease progression, and as a screen that may serve as an indicator for other kinds of testing.
When is it requested?
A doctor requests a blood albumin test (usually along with several other tests) if a person seems to have symptoms of liver or kidney disease.
Doctors may also request a blood albumin test when someone has an infection or inflammation as its concentration may provide a marker of the severity of the condition.
What does the test result mean?
Low albumin concentrations in the blood can suggest liver disease. Liver enzyme tests are requested to help determine which type of liver disease.
Low albumin concentrations in the blood can reflect diseases in which the kidneys cannot prevent albumin from leaking from the blood into the urine and being lost. In this case, the amount of albumin (or protein) in the urine also may be measured.
Low albumin concentrations in the blood can also be seen in severe inflammation or shock.
Low albumin concentrations in the blood may also suggest conditions in which your body does not properly absorb and digest protein such as Crohn’s disease or in which large volumes of protein are lost from the intestine.
High albumin concentrations in the blood usually reflect dehydration.
Is there anything else I should know?
Certain drugs increase albumin in your blood, including anabolic steroids, androgens, growth hormones, and insulin.
If you are receiving large amounts of intravenous fluids, the results of this test may be inaccurate.
Albumin concentrations can also be measured in the urine. Urine albumin can be mildly increased in inflammation and are significantly increased in people with nephrotic syndrome.
Common Questions
Ask a Laboratory Scientist
Article Sources
NOTE: This article is based on research that utilizes the sources cited here as well as the collective experience of the Lab Tests Online Editorial Review Board. This article is periodically reviewed by the Editorial Board and may be updated as a result of the review. Any new sources cited will be added to the list and distinguished from the original sources used.
