[Effect of total fasting on serum protein concentrations (author's transl)].

During a period of total fasting restricted to three weeks, haptoglobin, transferrin and beta1A-globin showed a marked, continuous decline. The complement was finally distinctly below the reference range. Macroglobulins and coeruloplasmin rised until the tenth day and decreased thereafter. IgG globulin remained essentially unchanged while immunoglobulins gammaA and gammaM showed an increase. On account of the considerable fluctuations observed in the protein fractions fasting in this form at least beyond a period of 21 days does not seem justified.