Human serum bilirubin fractionation in various hepatobiliary diseases by the newly developed high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

Serum Bilirubin was fractionated by newly developed reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) into 5 fractions: δ (δ-Bilirubin, Bδ),γ (bilirubin diglucuronide, BDG), β (Bilirubin monoglucuronide, BMG), β′ ((Z, E,) and/or (E, Z)-bilirubin IXα) and α ((Z, Z)-bilirubin IXα). Sera of healthy subjects and of patients with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia showed predominantly a fraction with a small amount of β′ fraction. Trace amounts of δ fraction were detected in a few cases. The results of fractionation of serum bilirubin in 159 patients with various hepatobiliary diseases suggested that the ratios B<5/(Bδ+BDG+BMG) and BMG/Bδ can be useful parameters to follow patients with jaundice, compared with the reported Bδ/total bilirubin which did not always reflect the jaundice stage, especially in cases with low serum bilirubin levels. © 1988 The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.