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Albumin: What This Protein Says About Liver Health
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What is it?
Albumin is the most common protein in your blood. It is made by the liver.
Albumin helps keep fluid inside your blood vessels, so fluid does not leak into nearby tissues. It also helps carry important substances through the body, including hormones, fatty acids, medications, and minerals.
Because albumin is made by the liver and travels through the blood, it can give information about liver function and overall health.
Why it matters
Albumin is often used as a marker of how well the liver is making proteins. It can also give clues about general health.
Low albumin may be seen with liver disease, kidney disease, poor nutrition, or inflammation in the body. Albumin can also drop during illness or inflammation, even if the liver is working normally.
High albumin is uncommon. When it happens, it is most often due to dehydration.
Albumin does not diagnose one specific condition on its own. It should be interpreted with other blood tests, symptoms, and medical history.
Reference ranges
When albumin is within the reference range, it usually suggests normal liver protein production and normal protein balance.
When albumin is below the reference range, it may suggest reduced liver protein production, protein loss through the kidneys, poor nutrition, or inflammation. It should be reviewed in context.
When albumin is above the reference range, it most often suggests dehydration, rather than the body making too much albumin.
Busher, J. T. (1990). Serum albumin and globulin. In Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations. Butterworths.
De Simone, G., di Masi, A., & Ascenzi, P. (2021). Serum albumin: A multifaced enzyme. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(18), 10086.
Gounden, V., Vashisht, R., & Jialal, I. (2025). Hypoalbuminemia. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
Moman, R. N., Gupta, N., & Varacallo, M. A. (2025). Physiology, albumin. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
This information is educational and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Your results should be interpreted with a qualified healthcare professional in the context of your health history.
