[Bisalbuminemia. A case with the transient form and critical review of the literature]

Abstract

A charge heterogeneity of serum albumin can be demonstrated by special technics. This heterogeneity is due to the variation in the amount of free SH-groups and to binding of several substances. Electrophoretically, serum albumin can also separate into two distinct bands; this bisalbuminemia can be either transient or permanent. Binding of lactam antibiotics or limited proteolysis of albumin by pancreatic enzymes leads to transient form. For the permanent bisalbuminemias faster and slower migrating variants are known, the slower variants differing from normal serum albumin in the primary structure. The chemical basis for faster variants in unknown.