Danger of bucolome in infants with hyperbilirubinaemia. Experimental evidence.

Effects of bucolome on congenitally jaundiced Gunn rats were examined. Plasma total bilirubin level fell immediately after a single injection of bucolome and the lowered level persisted for more than 6 hours. Plasma unbound-bilirubin level and cerebellar bilirubin content increased simultaneously with the drop in total plasma bilirubin level. Kernicterus was observed in the brains of the treated rats 6 hours after the treatment. LD50 of the drug in jaundiced rats was about 37 mg/kg, about one-tenth of the value in nonjaundiced rats. It is suggested that bucolome displaces bilirubin from albumin, transferring bilirubin from blood into tissues including the brain, and resulting in kernicterus. The use of bucolome in infants with hyperbilirubinaemia is inadvisable.