It is composed primarily of water with small amounts of minerals, salts, ions, nutrients, and proteins in solution.
[3] Albumin is structurally stable due to its seventeen disulfide bonds and unique in that it has the highest water solubility and the lowest isoelectric point (pI) of the plasma proteins.
[1] Albumin is commonly used to replenish and maintain blood volume after traumatic injury, during surgery, and during plasma exchange.
[1] factor II and factor X if Factor X not available deficiencies liver disease immune deficiency disorders some types of immune thrombocytopenic purpura Guillain–Barré syndrome Polyneuropathies disseminated intravascular coagulation massive haemorrhage Ascites Restoring of blood volume in trauma, burns and surgery patients emphysema and COPD cirrhosis When the ultimate goal of plasma processing is a purified plasma component for injection or transfusion, the plasma component must be highly pure.
The first practical large-scale method of blood plasma fractionation was developed by Edwin J. Cohn during World War II.
[3] The Cohn Process exploits differences in properties of the various plasma proteins, specifically, the high solubility and low pI of albumin.
Several variations to this process exist, including an adapted method by Nitschmann and Kistler that uses fewer steps and replaces centrifugation and bulk freezing with filtration and diafiltration.
This is advantageous because it reduces turn around time, allows for the control of variables by automation, and removes the labor-intensive and sample wasting steps in current diagnostic processes.