Bile Pigment Metabolism Causing Jaundice

Disorders of Bile Pigment Metabolism Causing Jaundice 

A summary of the distribution of bile pigments in the different types of jaundice is given in Table 2. 

Type of jaundice Bilirubin Pigment I Pigment II Conjugated bilirubin 

The efficiency of steroid therapy in causing a dramatic fall in plasma bile pigment concentration in hepatitis is well known the mode of action of these drugs has not, however, been established. It appears unlikely that they have a chloretic effect (C4, Sll), and the report of Katz et al. (K1) that treatment results in a decreased excretion of fecal urobilinogen suggests that there is either a decrease in the rate of hemoglobin breakdown or that another pathway of catabolism is employed which does not involve bilirubin. 

So-called physiological jaundice in infants is attributable to a rise in plasma bilirubin, the conjugated bile pigments being absent. Billing et al. (Bll) found that the maximum increase in bilirubin concentration 

---

Disorders of Bile Pigment Metabolism Causing Jaundice. 280... 

B20. Billing, B. H., Defects in bile pigment metabolism causing jaundice. Acta Med. Okayama 16, 185-197 (1961). 

Chapter 6 Iron and Bile Pigment Metabolism CAUSE OF JAUNDICE POSTULATED DEFECT... 

---