Contribution of delta bilirubin to the interpretation of hyperbilirubinemia in the horse - a pilot study.

A study was conducted to examine the relationship of delta bilirubin to traditional bilirubin fractions to determine if delta bilirubin might assist in differentiating causes of hyperbilirubinemia in the horse. A recently introduced thin-film method was used for delta bilirubin determination. Thin-film and the traditional diazo methods were used for determining total, unconjugated, and conjugated bilirubin fractions. Sera from 38 healthy and 85 sick horses were examined.Thin-film serum delta bilirubin determination does not appear to assist in differentiating causes of unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia in horses. There was good correlation between thin-film and diazo-determined total bilirubin and bilirubin fractions. Only small changes in reference limits would appear to be necessary for clinical application of the thin-film bilirubin methods used in this study.