Prealbumin (PAB)

Sample
- This is done on the fresh serum of the patient.
- 24 hours of the urine sample can also be tested.
Indications
- It is used to assess nutritional status.
- As workup in patients with kidney diseases.
- Advised in subclinical deficit and assessing the response to restorative therapy.
Precautions
- In the case of inflammation, the result is not representative of the disease.
- Drugs like anabolic steroids, androgens, and prednisolone increase the level.
- Drugs like estrogens and oral contraceptives decrease the level.
Pathophysiology
- Prealbumin is synthesized mainly in the liver.
- This was also called transthyretin because of its binding with thyroid hormones.
- This is the fastest moving protein on the serum electrophoresis.
- This has the same concentration in the serum and CSF. Due to the low level of other proteins, prealbumin is the major protein in the CSF.
- This can be used to differentiate CSF leakage from the nasal secretions.
- There is a very faint band so normally not seen on the traditional electrophoresis.
- It binds to T3 and T4 so-called Transthyretin or thyroxine-binding prealbumin.
- This is also referred to as thyroxine-binding prealbumin (TBPA).
- It also binds and carries retinol as a retinol-binding protein which in turn binds Vit.A.
- This protein-vitamin complex is essential to transport oil-soluble Vitamin A in the body.
- Zinc is required for the synthesis of prealbumin, low levels occur in Zinc deficiency.
- This is also the amyloid precursor protein and found in cardiac amyloidosis.
- It has a half-life of 48 hours (1.9 days) which increases its importance superior to Albumin and transferrin.
- Albumin’s half-life is 21 days.
- Prealbumin is a very good indicator of any change affecting protein synthesis and catabolism.
- Because of its short half-life (2 days), prealbumin responds quickly to nutritional intake and nutritional restoration.
- It gives the current nutritional status of the body, not the status from 3 weeks ago.
- It can cross the blood-brain barrier and actively secreted into the cerebrospinal fluid and choroid plexus.
- Importance of prealbumin in the nasal secretions to differentiate fluid coming from the skull fracture versus nasal secretion.
- Prealbumin is also a negative acute-phase protein, serum level decreases in inflammation, malignancy, and protein-losing diseases of kidneys and intestine.
- Protein status of the patients by estimation of prealbumin:
- Mild protein deficiency = 10 to 15 mg/dL
- Moderate protein deficiency = 5 to 10 mg/dL
- Severe protein deficiency = 0 to 5 mg/dL
Normal level
Source 2
Prealbumin
- Adult = 19 to 38 mg/dl (190 to 380 mg/L)
- Child :
- <5 days = 6 to 21 mg/dL
- 1 to 5 years = 14 to 30 mg/dL
- 6 to 9 years = 15 to 33 mg/dL
- 10 to 13 years = 22 to 36 mg/dL
- 14 to 19 years = 22 to 45 mg/dL
- Urine = 0.017 to 0.047 mg/24 hours
- CSF = around 2% of the total CSF protein
Source 4
Prealbumin
- 19 to 38 mg/dL (190 to 380 mg/L) by nephlometry
Interpretation
- In severe protein deficiency = level is 0 to 5 mg/dl.
- In moderate protein deficiency = level is 5 to 10 mg/dl.
- In mild protein deficiency = level is 10 to 15 mg/dl.
- (Normal may vary from lab to lab.)
The increased level is seen in :
- Chronic Alcoholics.
- Patients with corticosteroid therapy.
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
- Kidney diseases.
- Pregnancy.
The decreased level is seen in:
- In cases of malnutrition.
- Hypothyroidism
- Liver diseases.
- Inflammatory conditions.
- In cases of trauma like burns.
- In chronic diseases.
- In some digestive diseases.
- In Cancers.
- Salicylate poisoning.