Total Protein: Normal Range and What a High or Low Result Means

Total protein measures the combined amount of albumin and globulins in your blood, the two main protein groups. Albumin keeps fluid inside your blood vessels and transports substances such as hormones and medicines. The globulins include antibodies and transport proteins that support your immune system.

The test is usually part of a comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) and is reported in grams per litre. Because it adds two fractions together, a normal total protein can still hide a shift between them, so an abnormal result is often followed by separate albumin and globulin measurements.

The normal range for adults sits roughly between 60 and 80 g/l, though the exact reference depends on the laboratory.

Total protein gives a broad first impression of your nutrition, liver function, kidney function and immune activity, because all of these influence how much protein circulates in your blood.

A low total protein can fit with a diet low in protein, a liver that makes less albumin, a kidney that loses protein into the urine, or a gut that absorbs less. A high total protein is less common and can accompany dehydration or long-standing inflammation, where the body produces extra globulins.

Because the value is a sum, it rarely gives a diagnosis on its own. It mainly tells your doctor whether the individual protein fractions are worth investigating further.

Testing may be recommended as part of routine health screening, when evaluating unexplained weight loss or edema, during investigation of liver or kidney disease, or when chronic infection or immune disorders are suspected.