Problems associated with plasma albumin estimation in nephrotic syndrome using the bromocresol green method

Abstract

Evaluation of albumin estimation by bromocresol green (BCG) method was carried out in sixty nephrotics and twenty control subjects. In nephrotic syndrome, «2-globulin and total cholesterol concentrations were significantly increased, while the mean albumin level was significantly reduced when compared with the corresponding control values. In both control and nephrotics, the determination of scrum albumin by the BCG method showed good correlations with values obtained by cellulose acetate electrophoresis using the biuret method to determine the total protein, but the mean value for the nephrotics was higher by an average of 0.4g/100ml. Interference with the BCG reaction by an increased «2-globulin level was suggested as a possible explanation for the higher mean albumin level obtained by the BCG method in the nephrotics. Inclusion of 0.8M NaCl in the BCG assay system did not prevent the interference by other proteins. However, this interference could to a large extent, be offset by calibrating with a pool of fresh sera previously determined by electrophoresis.