Water-soluble proteins which are part of all tissues in the body. In the blood, albumins are part of the liquid component, PLASMA, where they are important in maintaining plasma volume.

When taken into the stomach, all albumins are converted into a soluble form by the process of DIGESTION and are then absorbed into the blood, whence they go to build up body tissues. Albumin is synthesised in the liver, and in chronic liver disease this process is seriously affected. (See PROTEINURIA; KIDNEYS, DISEASES OF – Glomerulonephritis.)