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Green jaundice

A study of serum biliverdin, mesobiliverdin and other green pigments

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Abstract

Green jaundice is generally ascribed to biliverdinemia, but no proof of the identity of responsible pigments is known. A serum biliverdin concentration of 3 mg%, found in 1 of our patients, is thought to be the highest such value recorded. The accepted analytic method employed, however, was found to be nonspecific; a mixture of biliverdin, mesobiliverdin and related pigments appeared to contribute to the green color observed. The use of Triton X-100 and KCN facilitated spectrophotometric distinction of these pigments from green hemoprotein in the 3 illustrative patients described.

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The authors wish to thank Dr. E. A. Davis for her aid in the spectrophotometric analyses; Dr. Z. J. Petryka for bile pigment samples and assistance with thin layer chromatography; Dr. C. J. Watson for his interest in this study; Drs. J. T. Pewters, S. Child, J. Hiatt, H. L. Sharp and P. Wedemeyer for referring patients and/or sera for study.

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Greenberg, A.J., Bossenmaier, I. & Schwartz, S. Green jaundice. Digest Dis Sci 16, 873–880 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238167

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238167

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