1 The Departments of Pediatrics, Gallinger Municipal Hospital and George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
The concentration of total protein, albumin and globulin in the plasma increase with increasing birth weight in premature infants. These values are relatively stable and independent of birth weight in mature newborn infants. Infants born as twins have lower plasma protein values than do singly born infants of corresponding birth weight. The plasma protein values of twins may vary widely one from the other. This finding supports the theory that plasma proteins in the infant are produced and regulated independently of the mother. Infants born with edema may have essentially normal plasma protein values.
Submitted on December 20, 1948