Globulin, Total
The proteins in your blood other than albumin, including antibodies. Most reports calculate it as total protein minus albumin.
AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called GlobLOINC 10834-0
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What it is
Globulins are a mixed group of proteins in your blood. Some help carry nutrients, some help your blood clot, and the gamma globulins are antibodies that help fight infection. Your liver and your immune system make them. On a standard panel, globulin is not measured on its own: the lab subtracts albumin from total protein. Because the result lumps every non-albumin protein together, a protein electrophoresis test is used when a clinician wants to see which ones changed.
Why it matters
Globulin gives a rough picture of inflammation and the immune system. A high level is often linked to long-lasting inflammation or infection, and a low level can mean the body is making fewer antibodies or losing protein. It is also half of the albumin-to-globulin (A/G) ratio. A single number cannot show the cause, so your clinician reads it with albumin, your other results and how you feel. Results just outside the range are common and often have simple explanations.
If it’s low
A low globulin means there is less non-albumin protein than your lab expects. It can happen when the body makes fewer antibodies, loses protein through the kidneys or gut, or when the liver makes less. It is less common than a high result. Your clinician can look for the cause with a few more tests.
Common causes
- Kidney disease or kidney protein loss
- Liver disease
- Low antibody levels (hypogammaglobulinemia), which can be inherited or caused by some illnesses and medicines
- Some medicines, such as corticosteroids
What can help
- Ask whether antibody (immunoglobulin) levels, kidney tests or liver tests would help explain it
- Tell your clinician if you get infections often
- Review your medicines with your clinician
If it’s high
A high globulin means there is more non-albumin protein in your blood than your lab expects. It is often linked to long-lasting inflammation or infection, or to being low on fluids. Less often, the immune system makes a large amount of a single type of antibody. A high result often leads to a repeat test, and sometimes a protein electrophoresis test. Many other things can cause this, and your clinician can put it in context.
Common causes
- Dehydration
- Long-lasting infection or inflammation, such as viral hepatitis or HIV
- Autoimmune conditions such as lupus
- Long-term liver disease, including cirrhosis
- Less often, blood cancers that make a lot of one protein, such as multiple myeloma or Waldenström macroglobulinemia
What can help
- Ask whether being low on fluids could explain it, and whether a repeat test makes sense
- Ask whether a protein electrophoresis test would help show which proteins are up
- Tell your clinician about any ongoing infection, joint pain or other symptoms
Usual ranges
What labs print as the reference range, by who was tested. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.
For adults: 1.5–4.5 g/dL. Source: Labcorp, Cleveland Clinic.
- 18+ (this one applies)1.5–4.5 g/dL
Sources: Labcorp, Cleveland Clinic
See Globulin by age and sex, with the U.S. survey numbers where they exist.
How common is your level?
NHANES describes the US civilian, non-institutionalized population, not a 'healthy' reference group. People with disease, on medication, fasting or not (except fasting-subsample markers), smokers and so on are all included. A percentile says where a value sits among Americans of that sex and age, not whether it is normal.
Use the left and right arrow keys to read each age. Shift moves five years.
Reference data derived from CDC/NCHS National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), cycles 2015-2016, 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic), August 2021-August 2023. Analysis by bloodtesttracker.com; not endorsed by CDC, NCHS or HHS.
Explore Globulin by age and sex: every percentile as a table, with a download.
What can affect your result
- It is calculated, so any change in total protein or albumin changes it
- Hydration: dehydration raises it, and extra fluid lowers it
- Posture and tourniquet time affect total protein and albumin, which carries through to globulin
- Medicines: corticosteroids, birth control pills and insulin can affect globulin levels
- Lab method: different albumin methods can shift the calculated result slightly
- Lab ranges differ, for example Labcorp 1.5–4.5 g/dL and 2.0–3.5 g/dL on Cleveland Clinic's patient page
- Globulin is calculated from total protein and albumin, so anything that changes either one carries through, including posture, tourniquet time, dehydration and IV fluids.
- Corticosteroids, birth control pills and insulin can affect globulin levels (Cleveland Clinic).
- Different albumin methods can read slightly differently, which shifts the calculated globulin.
Hydration and posture effects are immediate. Changes from inflammation, infection or immune conditions usually develop over weeks to months.
When to talk to a clinician
No widely published urgent threshold exists for globulin. See a clinician soon if a result outside the range comes with unexplained weight loss, ongoing fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, yellow skin or eyes, blood in your urine, or swelling in your feet, ankles, legs or belly. If you feel well, mention it at your next visit.
Questions you could ask
- How do my globulin, albumin and A/G ratio fit together?
- Could dehydration, inflammation or an infection explain this result?
- Would a protein electrophoresis test help show which proteins are higher?
- Should we repeat this test, and when?
- Would antibody (immunoglobulin) levels or kidney and liver tests help explain a low result?
- Does my history of infections matter here?
Questions people ask
Is globulin measured or calculated?
On most panels it is calculated. The lab subtracts albumin from total protein and prints what is left as globulin. Because of that, it moves whenever either of those two results moves.
What is the A/G ratio?
It compares albumin with globulin by dividing albumin by globulin. Albumin is usually higher than globulin, so the ratio is usually above 1. Labcorp prints 1.2–2.2. A ratio outside the range can come from either number changing.
My globulin is high. Could that mean a blood cancer?
A high globulin is more often caused by inflammation, infection or low fluids than by a blood cancer. Because globulin lumps many proteins together, clinicians often repeat it and sometimes order a protein electrophoresis test to see which proteins are up. Try not to read too much into one number. Your clinician can put it in context.
Why does my globulin range differ between labs?
Each lab sets its own range using its own methods and local population. Labcorp prints 1.5–4.5 g/dL, and Cleveland Clinic's patient page lists 2.0–3.5 g/dL. Use the range on your own report first.
How do I convert g/dL to g/L?
Multiply g/dL by 10, so 2.8 g/dL is 28 g/L. To go the other way, divide g/L by 10.
Show the science and sources
Units
- 1 g/dL = 1 g/dL
- 1 g/dL = 10 g/L
Open the Globulin unit converter
Is a change real?
Globulin naturally varies about 5.5% from test to test in the same healthy person. Between two results from the same lab, a change of roughly 17% or more is unlikely to be day-to-day noise or lab variation (95% reference change value). Source: Desirable Biological Variation Database specifications, 2014 update (Minchinela J, Ricos C, et al.; the 'Ricos database', a compilation of median published CVI/CVG).
For clinicians and researchers
Globulin is calculated as total protein minus albumin (LOINC 10834-0, 'by calculation'), so it carries the combined imprecision of both assays and any bias in the albumin method. Bromocresol green and bromocresol purple albumin methods can read differently, especially at low albumin or high globulin, and that difference passes straight into the calculated value. The result covers all non-albumin proteins: the alpha-1, alpha-2, beta and gamma fractions, with immunoglobulins mainly in the gamma and beta regions. It cannot tell a broad (polyclonal) rise from inflammation, chronic infection or liver disease apart from a single-clone (monoclonal) rise, which is what serum protein electrophoresis with immunofixation and free light chains are used for. The albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio is albumin divided by globulin, and Labcorp prints 1.2–2.2. Labcorp's globulin interval is 1.5–4.5 g/dL, and Cleveland Clinic's patient page lists 2.0–3.5 g/dL. LOINC 2336-6 is the general serum globulin code, with no method specified.
LOINC 10834-0 (primary), 2336-6. Specimen: calculated.
Sources
- Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (14) (test 322000), Labcorp
- Sample report, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (14) (test 322000), Labcorp
- Globulin Blood Test, Cleveland Clinic (2022)
- Total Protein and Albumin/Globulin (A/G) Ratio, MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine)
- Total Protein Test, Lab Tests Online UK (Association for Laboratory Medicine)
- LOINC 10834-0: Globulin [Mass/volume] in Serum by calculation, NLM Clinical Tables Search Service (LOINC)
AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.