[Nutrition assessment protein].
Nutrition status must be estimated during a patient's hospitalization. Body weight, hemoglobin or serum albumin are used to estimate nutrition status, but they can not reflect the present nutrition status. Recently, rapid turnover protein(RTP) has been proposed as a nutrition assessment protein, reflecting real-time nutrition status. The halves in the serum of retinal-binding protein(RBP) and transthyretin (TTR) are 0.5 and 2 days, respectively. Their physiological variations, such as intra-individual, diet, and athletics, are within 10%, so they are suitable for monitoring present nutrition status. Because they are negative acute-phase reactants, we have to measure CRP as a marker for the acute-phase reaction. Measuring RBP and TTR as monitoring markers reveals the accurate, real-time nutrition status of the patient. Providing accurate information for a patient's nutrition situation will support cure and early discharge, and reduce medical costs.