Oxidative stress in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

We investigated the role of bilirubin as an antioxidant in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NNH) by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, a marker of oxidative stress and key antioxidant enzymes viz., superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in otherwise healthy 70 term newborns with NNH and 20 control newborns without jaundice. Jaundiced newborns had significantly lower MDA but higher SOD, catalase and GPx levels. Furthermore, plasma bilirubin showed significant negative correlation with MDA but positive correlation with antioxidant enzyme activities. It is concluded that NNH is associated with lower oxidative stress.