CONJUGATED BILIRUBIN IN NEONATES WITH GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE-DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY

We used a system capable of measuring conjugated bilirubin and its mon oconjugated and diconjugated fractions in serum to assess bilirubin co njugation in 29 glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient, te rm, male newborn infants and 35 control subjects; all had serum biliru bin levels greater than or equal to 256 mu mol/L(15 mg/dl), The median value for diconjugated bilirubin was lower in the G6PD-deficient neon ates than in control subjects (0.06 (range 0.00 to 1.84) vs 0.21 (rang e 0.00 to 1.02) mu mol/L, p = 0.006), Diglucuronide was undetectable i n 11 (38.9%) of the G6PD-deficient infants versus 3 (8.6%) of the cont rol subjects (p = 0.015), These findings imply a partial defect of bil irubin conjugation not previously demonstrated in G6PD-deficient newbo rn infants.