We have examined the effect of hypoalbuminaemia, a hallmark of nephrotic syndrome, on the albumin-fatty acid equilibrium in the plasma of 11 adult patients with nephrosis compared with 12 healthy subjects and six subjects with normoalbuminaemic hyperlipoproteinaemia. 2. We used a dialysis exchange rate method which allows the evaluation in relative terms of the binding affinity of albumin for plasma fatty acid and the fatty acid availability, tentatively equated with the unbound fatty acid fraction. 3. In nephrotic patients, an increase (P < 0.001) in albumin affinity for fatty acid was seen compared with healthy subjects, which was negatively correlated with albuminaemia (r = -0.69, P < 0.02). No change in fatty acid availability was seen for the group as a whole, but individual values showed a wide scatter, with the highest values in four patients with the highest fatty acid-albumin molar ratios. The increase in albumin affinity for fatty acid was specific to nephrotic syndrome since no such effect was seen in subjects with hyperlipoproteinaemia, who only showed a moderate increase (P < 0.01) in fatty acid availability. 4. The increased albumin affinity for fatty acid in nephrotic syndrome supports the hypothesis that an albumin component with lower affinity for fatty acid might filter out through the diseased glomerular membrane and leave the high-affinity albumin in plasma.
