Abstract
Flodgaard, H. J. & Brodersen, R. Bilirubin Glucuronide Formation in Developing Guinea Pig Liver. Scand. J. din. Lab. Invest. 19, 149–155, 1967. Formation of bilirubin diglucuronide by guinea pig liver tissue slices and microsomes was studied, using a radioisotope derivative method for the quantitative determinations, at various stages of perinatal development.
O-aminophenol inhibits competitively the conjugation of bilirubin and vice versa. From the Km and Ki values it is concluded that bilirubin and OAP are conjugated by two different enzymes.
The liver slices rapidly lose UDPGA to the medium, and the rate of bilirubin conjugation decreases. From the course of these processes an approximate value of the Michaelis constant for UDPGA was calculated.
The possible role of the low UDPGA content of the liver of the foetus and newborn in the pathogenesis of neonatal jaundice is discussed.