Abstract
The effect of bilirubin and phototreated bilirubin (10 mg/dl) on granulocytes (PMN) was studied "in vitro" utilizing the activity of the hexose-monophosphate shunt as an indirect index of granulocyte metabolic activity and, therefore, of its phagocytic function. Blood was obtained from 10 healthy full-term newborns and from 10 healthy adults. Bilirubin and phototreated bilirubin seem to determine a significant decrease in the metabolic activity - during phagocytosis of latex microspheres - of newborns' as well as adults' PMN. These data, obtained by studying the entire blood,allow to conclude that bilirubin and phototreated bilirubin - directly or indirectly - inhibit the PMN function and indicate that "in vitro" light exposure does not decrease bilirubin toxicity on PMN metabolic activity. This work received financial support from C.N.R., under the U.S.A.-Italy cooperative program in science (contract No. 78.01876.65).
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Rubaltelli, F., Piovesan, A., Granati, B. et al. The effects of bilirubin and phototreated bilirubin on the phagocytic activity of granulocytes: 27. Pediatr Res 14, 170 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198002000-00054
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198002000-00054
