Of the 25 concomitant LN patients, seven patients had 24-hour urine protein secretion >0.5 g, including one patient with minor pathologic changes in the renal biopsy, and six patients who demonstrated protein leakage from the GI tract by 99 m Tc-HSA scintigraphy, indicating that the serum albumin decline observed in these patients was mainly caused by loss from the GI tract. The gene discussed is ALB; the disease is lobular neoplasia.