The effect of elimination of environmental light on the metabolism of unconjugated bilirubin in the Gunn rat.

In the homozygous jaundiced Gunn rat, bilirubin catabolism is augmented by intense illumination (phototherapy) and by induction of microsomal cytochrome P448. To assess the relative importance of less intense environmental light versus intrinsic mechanisms in the maintenance of bilirubin turnover, Gunn rats were kept for three weeks under either ordinary laboratory lighting (0.3-0.8 mW/cm2, wavelength range 400-600 nm) or in absolute darkness. No differences in plasma concentration, miscible pool, turnover of bilirubin, or in hepatic cytochrome P448 activity were noted between the two groups over this period. A greater than twofold increase in the biliary excretion of unconjugated bilirubin was noted in the animals maintained under light, but this represented only 2% of total bilirubin turnover. These results suggest that intrinsic(enzymatic ?) pathways are of primary importance in the maintenance of bilirubin metabolism in the glucuronyltransferase-deficient state under ordinary levels of environmental light.