Biochemical alterations in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and bilirubin encephalopathy: a review

Abstract

This review article discusses some current questions concerning the measurement of bilirubin in the blood of newborn infants and the relationship of these blood parameters to the biochemical defects responsible for bilirubin encephalopathy. A discussion of numerous theories, which have been put forth to explain the specific biochemical mechanism by which bilirubin acts on brain metabolism, demonstrates that presently there is no unequivocal explanation for the molecular events leading to bilirubin encephalopathy.