B. Lerique et al., HIGH-AFFINITY INTERACTION OF LONG-CHAIN FATTY-ACIDS WITH SERUM-ALBUMIN IN NEPHROTIC SYNDROME, Clinical science, 89(4), 1995, pp. 417-420
We have examined the effect of hypoalbuminaemia, a hallmark of nephrot
ic syndrome, on the albumin-fatty acid equilibrium in the plasma of 11
adult patients with nephrosis compared with 12 healthy subjects and s
ix subjects with normoalbuminaemic hyperlipoproteinaemia. 2, We used a
dialysis exchange rate method which allows the evaluation in relative
terms of the binding affinity of albumin for plasma fatty acid and th
e fatty acid availability, tentatively equated with the unbound fatty
acid fraction, 3. In nephrotic patients, an increase (P<0,001) in albu
min affinity for fatty acid was seen compared with healthy subjects, w
hich was negatively correlated with albuminaemia (r=-0.69, P<0,02), No
change in fatty acid availability was seen for the group as a whole,
but individual values showed a wide scatter, with the highest values i
n four patients with the highest fatty acid-albumin molar ratios. The
increase in albumin affinity for fatty acid was specific to nephrotic
syndrome since no such effect was seen in subjects with hyperlipoprote
inaemia, who only showed a moderate increase (P<0,01) in fatty acid av
ailability, 4, The increased albumin affinity for fatty acid in nephro
tic syndrome supports the hypothesis that an albumin component with lo
wer affinity for fatty acid might filter out through the diseased glom
erular membrane and leave the high-affinity albumin in plasma.