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Bilirubin Toxicity in Hepatoma Cells

Abstract

BILIRUBIN is present in toxic concentrations in foetuses and premature infants with haemolysis due to blood group incompatibility1. Hyperbilirubinaemia in the neonate has been associated with irreversible nuclear damage in the brain and other tissues2,3 and experimental evidence suggests that bilirubin interferes with oxidative phosphorylation4,5. We have shown that bilirubin inhibits the growth of cells which share with developing tissues the ability to derive an appreciable part of their energy from extramitochondrial processes.

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THALER, M. Bilirubin Toxicity in Hepatoma Cells. Nature New Biology 230, 218–219 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio230218a0

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