Serum albumin concentrations in rural Zimbabweans

Primary infections, protein malnutrition or simply poor food intake which decrease albumin synthesis often prevail in rural Zimbabwe. Therefore, we postulated that serum albumin levels in rural folk may not compare with published values. To investigate this, blood samples were collected from 1,502 consenting participants aged between 16 and 90 years from randomly selected rural areas in Mashonaland West, Midlands, Matebeleland South and Matebeleland North provinces in Zimbabwe. The effects of smoking, alcohol consumption and pregnancy on serum albumin levels were also investigated. The mean age in years did not differ significantly between females and males (32.5 +/- 0.44, n = 943 vs 33.84 +/- 0.62, n = 559). Serum preserved with sodium azide at -4 degrees C was analyzed for albumin using a Quick Lab 2 Analyzer (Ames Quick Lab) by the bromocresol green dye binding method. Only small differences of albumin concentrations (means +/- S.E.M.) were noted for each studied area and results were pooled. The normal serum albumin ranges were 27 to 52 g/L for females and 26 to 52 g/L for males and were different from those reported for developed countries. The albumin levels in females were significantly (p < 0.01) lower than in males (39.29 +/- 0.20 g/L, n = 943 vs 40.09 +/- 0.25 g/L, n = 559). However, the concentrations of the protein in males who smoked (38.66 +/- 0.38 g/L, n = 174) were significantly low (p < 0.01) by comparison with non smokers. Smoking did not alter albumin levels in females (38.27 +/- 0.53 g/L, n = 87) perhaps because they smoked fewer cigarettes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)