Progress in chemical and in vivo characterization of albumin preparations.

In plasma fractionation industry different methods are used for producing albumin for therapeutic use. We wanted to investigate whether the different ways of fractionating plasma have an effect on the nativity of the albumin molecules. Isoelectric focusing in 6M urea has shown the presence of variable amounts of oxidized albumin in different preparations. The presence of oxidized forms indicates that an initial denaturation has taken place. To evaluate if the alteration in the albumin molecules has any effects in vivo, metabolic studies in rabbits and humans with radioiodinated albumin were undertaken. Our preliminary results show a correlation between the in vivo metabolic studies and the amount of oxidized albumin.