Plasma protein synthesis in the liver: method for measurement of albumin formation in vivo.

l-Arginine labeled with carbon-14 at the guanido group was injected into rabbits, and the ratio of the rates of entry of radioactivity into the protein and urea was determined. This ratio, multiplied by the rate of arginine utilization in urea synthesis and by the ratio of protein to protein arginine weights, gives the rate of protein synthesis. The method applies to albumin and should apply to any plasma protein synthesized in those liver cells which also synthesize urea.