Abstract
Recent clinical studies have shown that green fluorescent light is more effective in reducing serum bilirubin (BR) than is broad-spectrum white fluorescent light. During phototherapy BR is converted to more polar isomeric structures which are excreted principally in the bile. The most rapidly formed photoproducts are configurational isomers, principally Z,E-BR, which accumulate in the serum and are slowly excreted with first-order kinetics. The other major photoproduct is a structural isomer of BR called lumirubin (LR) which is formed more slowly but excreted more rapidly than the configurational isomers. The relative contribution of these two photochemical reactions to the efficacy of phototherapy is not known. In this study, we measured the steady-state serum concentrations of these two classes of photoproducts in premature infants treated with either green or white fluorescent lamps.
The concentration of Z,E-BR in the serum of infants treated with green light was significantly less than in infants exposed to white light. In contrast, the concentration of LR was greater in the serum of infants treated with green light. These data suggest the clinical efficacy of green phototherapy may be the result of increased production (and elimination) of lumirubin.
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Knox, I., Ennever, J. BILIRUBIN PHOTOISOMERIZATION UNDER GREEN LIGHT. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 202 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00656
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00656