Function
- Maintains oncotic pressure
- Transports thyroid hormones
- Transports other hormones, in particular, ones that are fat-soluble
- Transports fatty acids ("free" fatty acids) to the liver and to myocytes for utilization of energy
- Transports unconjugated bilirubin
- Transports many drugs; serum albumin levels can affect the half-life of drugs
- Competitively binds calcium ions (Ca2+)
- Buffers pH
- Serum albumin, as a negative acute-phase protein, is down-regulated in inflammatory states. As such, it is not a valid marker of nutritional status; rather, it is a marker in inflammatory states
- Prevents photodegradation of folic acid
Read more about this topic: Human Serum Albumin
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”
—Frank Smith (b. 1928)
“My function in life is not to be a politician in Parliament: it is to get something done.”
—Bernadette Devlin (b. 1947)
“To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art; men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)