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Bilirubin is a yellow breakdown product of normal haem catabolism. Its levels are elevated in certain diseases and it is responsible for the yellow color of bruises and the brown color of feces. Bilirubin reduction in the gut leads to a product called urobilinogen, which is excreted in urine.
Bilirubin consists of an open chain of four pyrroles (tetrapyrrole); by contrast, the heme molecule is a ring of four pyrroles, called porphyrin.
Bilirubin is very similar to the pigment phycobilin used by certain algae to capture light energy, and to the pigment phytochrome used by plants to sense light. All of these contain an open chain of four pyrroles.
Like these other pigments, bilirubin changes its conformation when exposed to light. This is used in the phototherapy of jaundiced newborns: the illuminated version of bilirubin is more soluble than the unilluminated version.
Several textbooks and research articles show incorrect chemical structures for the two isoforms of bilirubin. [1]
Bilirubin is created by the activity of biliverdin reductase on biliverdin. Bilirubin, when oxidized, reverts to become biliverdin once again. This cycle, in addition to the demonstration of the potent antioxidant activity of bilirubin, has led to the hypothesis that bilirubin's main physiologic role is as a cellular antioxidant [2].
Erythrocytes (red blood cells) are destroyed when they get old or damaged, in the spleen and bone marrow. This releases haemoglobin. This is broken down to haem, as the globin parts are turned into amino acids. The haem is then turned into unconjugated bilirubin in the macrophages of the spleen and bone marrow. It is then bound to albumin and sent to the liver.
In the liver it is conjugated with glucuronic acid, making it water soluble. Much of it goes into the bile and thus out into the small intestine. Some of the conjugated bilirubin remains in the large intestine and is metabolised by colonic bacteria to stercobilinogen and then oxidised to stercobilin.
Some is reabsorbed, and excreted in the urine as urobilinogen and the oxidised form, urobilin. If the liver’s function is impaired, or biliary drainage blocked, some of the conjugated bilirubin appears in the urine, turning it dark amber.
Unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia in the neonate can lead to accumulation of bilirubin in certain brain regions, a phenomenon known as kernicterus, with consequent irreversible damage to these areas manifesting as various neurological deficits, seizures, abnormal reflexes and eye movements. Aside from specific chronic medical conditions that may lead to hyperbilirubinaemia, neonates in general are at increased risk since they lack the intestinal bacteria that facilitate the breakdown and excretion of conjugated bilirubin in the feces (this is largely why the feces of a neonate are paler than those of an adult). Instead the conjugated bilirubin is converted back into the unconjugated form by the enzyme b-glucoronidase and a large proportion is reabsorbed through the enterohepatic circulation.
Reasonable levels of bilirubin can be beneficial to the organism. Evidence is accumulating that suggests bilirubin can protect tissues against oxidative damage caused by free radicals and other reactive oxygen species. Statistical analysis of people with high normal or slightly elevated bilirubin levels in blood shows that they have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Bilirubin is in one of two forms:
Total bilirubin measures both BU and BC. Total and direct bilirubin levels can be measured from the blood, but indirect bilirubin is calculated from the total and direct bilirubin.
To further elucidate the causes of jaundice or increased bilirubin, it is usually simpler to look at other liver function tests (especially the enzymes ALT, AST, GGT, Alk Phos), blood film examination (hemolysis, etc.) or evidence of infective hepatitis (e.g., Hepatitis A, B, C, delta E, etc).
Bilirubin is an excretion product, and the body does not control levels. Bilirubin levels reflect the balance between production and excretion. Thus, there is no "normal" level of bilirubin.
Bilirubin is broken down by light, and blood collection tubes (especially serum tubes) should therefore be protected from such exposure.
The reference range for total bilirubin is 2 - 14 μmol/L or 0.3 - 1.9 mg/dL. For direct bilirubin, it is 0 - 4 μmol/L or 0 - 0.3 mg/dL.
Mild rises in bilirubin may be caused by
Moderate rise in bilirubin may be caused by
Very high levels of bilirubin may be caused by
Cirrhosis may cause normal, moderately high or high levels of bilirubin, depending on exact features of the cirrhosis
Indirect bilirubin is fat soluable and direct bilirubin is water soluable.
Jaundice may be noticeable in the sclera (white) of the eyes at levels above about 30-50 μmol/l, and in the skin at higher levels. Jaundice is classified depending upon whether the bilirubin is free or conjugated to glucuronic acid into:
Bilirubin was used as a wordplay in the novel The Silence of the Lambs. The incarcerated psychopathic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter assists the FBI in capturing a killer. Lecter gives the name of the killer as "Billy Rubin". After Lecter escapes from custody, they find a piece of paper in his cell on which he had written his warden's name (Chilton) and, from the C,H,N,O in the name, given the formula for bilirubin.
In Juan Luis Guerra's song, 'Me sube la bilirrubina', the protagonists' Bilirubin levels increase as a result of unrequited love.
German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten have a song called Bili Rubin