Abstract
Extract: Reaction of bilirubin with increasing amounts of ganglioside purified from neonatal brain significantly alters the spectral absorption of bilirubin in proportion to the quantity of ganglioside added. Increments in absorbance occur at 353 nm with a prompt but transient increase at 486 nm. A decrease in absorbance occurs which is most marked at 447 nm. When gangliosides are added to bilirubin (9.1 μg/ml or 0.016 μM/ml), the decrease in absorbance is essentially linear up to the highest concentration of purified ganglioside tested (182 μg/ml or 0.097 μ/ml), which represents a molar ratio of 6.1:1. The asymptotic nature of the bilirubin-ganglioside reaction as measured by the decrease in absorbance with time suggests a stoichiometric relationship between the two substances. An isosbestic point was demonstrated at 405 nm. Observations reported here suggest bilirubin reaction with ganglioside is at least a two-step process.
Speculation: Bilirubin cytotoxicity may be related in part to plasma membrane effects which involve bilirubin interaction with ganglioside at concentrations which do not disturb mitochondrial metabolism. The difference between the ganglioside composition of infant and adult gray matter may in part explain the marked cytotoxicity of unconjugated bilirubin for the infant nervous system.
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Weil, M., Menkes, J. Bilirubin Interaction with Ganglioside: Possible Mechanism in Kernicterus. Pediatr Res 9, 791–793 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197510000-00009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197510000-00009
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