Prealbumin: Understanding This Sensitive Marker of Nutrition and Protein Status
Prealbumin, also called transthyretin, is a liver-produced protein with a short half-life that makes it a responsive indicator of recent changes in protein and nutritional status.
What Is Prealbumin?
Prealbumin, also called transthyretin, is a protein produced primarily by your liver. Despite its name, it is not a precursor to albumin — the name comes from how it migrates ahead of albumin on laboratory electrophoresis gels. Prealbumin plays two important roles in the body: it helps transport thyroid hormones (particularly thyroxine, or T4) and it partners with retinol-binding protein to carry vitamin A.
What makes prealbumin especially useful in clinical care is its relatively short half-life of roughly two days. Because levels turn over quickly, prealbumin can reflect recent changes in your protein and nutritional status faster than albumin, which has a half-life of around three weeks. For this reason, clinicians often view prealbumin as a more responsive indicator of short-term nutritional trends.
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Content reviewed by EnnuLife's medical team to ensure accuracy and adherence to current clinical guidelines.
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