The product albumin by alpha-globulin in the assessment of protein nutritional status.

The product albumin by alpha-globulins (A X alpha) was determined in the serum of two hundred preschool children with protein-calorie malnutrition grouped according to clinical-anthropometric categories, and the results were compared with those obtained in a group of one hundred well-nourished children of the same age range. Though values obtained in malnourished children showed significant differences from those obtained in the controls, this parameter does not allow a biochemical distinction among the four groups studied.