Which statement about serum albumin in healthy individuals is true?

Which statement about serum albumin in healthy individuals is true?

• A. Albumin is the smallest serum protein
• B. Albumin is the most abundant serum protein
• C. Albumin is the first to be degraded in inflammation
• D. Albumin is primarily a globulin

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is that albumin is the most abundant protein in blood plasma in healthy individuals. In adults, it accounts for about 60% of total serum protein, with typical concentrations roughly 3.5–5 g/dL. It’s produced by the liver and plays a major role in maintaining oncotic (colloid osmotic) pressure, which helps keep fluid inside blood vessels, and it also transports many substances (lipids, hormones, drugs) and helps buffer pH. Albumin is not the smallest serum protein, and it is not a globulin—it's a distinct, non-globulin fraction. While albumin levels can decrease during inflammation (a negative acute-phase reactant), saying it is the first to be degraded isn’t accurate, since the acute-phase response involves multiple changes and isn’t a simple, linear degradation sequence.

The main idea here is that albumin is the most abundant protein in blood plasma in healthy individuals. In adults, it accounts for about 60% of total serum protein, with typical concentrations roughly 3.5–5 g/dL. It’s produced by the liver and plays a major role in maintaining oncotic (colloid osmotic) pressure, which helps keep fluid inside blood vessels, and it also transports many substances (lipids, hormones, drugs) and helps buffer pH.

Albumin is not the smallest serum protein, and it is not a globulin—it's a distinct, non-globulin fraction. While albumin levels can decrease during inflammation (a negative acute-phase reactant), saying it is the first to be degraded isn’t accurate, since the acute-phase response involves multiple changes and isn’t a simple, linear degradation sequence.