Lima Memorial Health System Logo
Approximate ER WAIT TIME WAIT TIME MACRO
Lima Memorial eHealth
Careers
Ways to Give

Health Library

Total protein
     
Print-Friendly
Bookmarks

Total protein

 

The total protein test measures the total amount of two classes of proteins found in the fluid portion of your blood. These are albumin and globulin.

Proteins are important parts of all cells and tissues.

  • Albumin helps prevent fluid from leaking out of blood vessels. It also carries chemicals in your blood.
  • Globulins are an important part of your immune system.

A blood sample is needed. Most of the time blood is drawn from a vein located on the inside of the elbow or the back of the hand.

How to Prepare for the Test

 

Many medicines can interfere with blood test results.

  • Your health care provider will tell you if you need to stop taking any medicines before you have this test.
  • DO NOT stop or change your medicines without talking to your provider first.

 

Why the Test is Performed

 

This test is often done to diagnose nutritional problems, kidney disease or liver disease.

If total protein is abnormal, you may need more tests to look for the exact cause of the problem.

 

Normal Results

 

The normal range is 6.5 to 8.1 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or 65 to 81 g/L.

Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your provider about the meaning of your specific test results.

The examples above show the common measurements for results for these tests. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.

 

What Abnormal Results Mean

 

Higher-than-normal levels may be due to:

  • Chronic inflammation or infection, including HIV and hepatitis B or C
  • Multiple myeloma
  • Waldenström disease

Lower-than-normal levels may be due to:

  • Agammaglobulinemia
  • Bleeding (hemorrhage)
  • Burns (extensive)
  • Glomerulonephritis
  • Liver disease
  • Malabsorption
  • Malnutrition
  • Nephrotic syndrome
  • Protein-losing enteropathy

 

Considerations

 

Total protein measurement may be increased during pregnancy.

 

 

Open References

References

Gharavi AG, Landry DW. Approach to the patient with renal disease. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 100.

Manary MJ, Trehan I. Severe malnutrition. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 197.

Pincus MR, Abraham NZ, Bluth M. Interpreting laboratory results. In: McPherson RA, Pincus MR, eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 9.

BACK TO TOPText only

 
  • Blood test

    Blood test

    illustration

    • Blood test

      Blood test

      illustration

    A Closer Look

     

      Talking to your MD

       

        Self Care

         

          Tests for Total protein

           
           

          Review Date: 5/19/2025

          Reviewed By: Jacob Berman, MD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

          The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

          © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

          All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.
          © 1997- adam.comAll rights reserved.