STUDIES ON THE METABOLISM OF PLASMA PROTEINS IN THE NEPHROTIC SYNDROME. I. ALBUMIN, γ-GLOBULIN AND IRON-BINDING GLOBULIN 1

Abstract

Although there is unanimity of opinion that the nephrotic syndrome is characterized by proteinuria, hypoproteinemia, edema and hyperlipemia, there is considerably less agreement as to the mechanisms which result in these findings. It is now generally held that the proteinuria found in this disease is related directly to the renal lesion (1) and is not attributable to the excretion of ab- normal plasma proteins (2). The cause of the severe hypoproteinemia in this disease, however, is a more controversial subject. The association of proteinuria and hypoproteinemia as cause and ef- fect has been postulated by a number of investigators (1-4) and the occasionally prodigious amounts of plasma protein excreted by children with the nephrotic syndrome makes the relation- ship attractive. This concept, however, is not universally accepted (5), and it has long been sug- gested that the degree of hypoproteinemia may not depend upon the severity of proteinuria alone (6).