Russian researchers have advanced the blood test used to measure bilirubin, according to the press service of Skoltech.
Physiological jaundice affects about four out of five premature infants. It is not the same as illnesses caused by hepatitis, where the liver struggles to clear bilirubin that forms when red blood cells break down. To address this condition, clinicians often prescribe medications and expose the newborns to blue light therapy. Yet, the precise light frequency, duration, and intensity remain topics of study. Treatment parameters must be adjusted to the severity of the jaundice, guided by accurate bilirubin measurements from the blood.
In response to this clinical need, researchers at Skoltech have proposed a method to sharpen bilirubin quantification by employing fluorescence detection. Fluorescence describes how certain molecules re-emit light at a lower energy after excitation. Bilirubin, when stimulated by blue light, fluoresces in a way that shifts the spectrum toward longer wavelengths. By calibrating measurements against a range of bilirubin concentrations, scientists can deduce the bilirubin level in patient samples with greater accuracy.
The team reasoned that in solutions with high bilirubin content, fluorescence could be suppressed. This happens because a large fraction of the emitted light is reabsorbed by neighboring bilirubin molecules before it can be detected, especially under blue illumination. As bilirubin is broken down or otherwise reduced, the quenching effect eases, and fluorescence becomes more pronounced. Interestingly, the same rising fluorescence trend appeared even in solutions with low bilirubin levels, which was not expected.
Building on these observations, the researchers formalized the fluorescence dynamics of bilirubin and captured them as a reference graph. This graph enables a straightforward comparison between measured fluorescence intensity and bilirubin concentration, offering a potentially universal tool for assessing jaundice severity. The authors hope that this approach will contribute to safer, more effective treatment for physiological jaundice in newborns.
In a separate note, the report mentions that a substance previously evaluated for obesity treatment had passed mouse studies, though details were not elaborated in the accompanying summary.