PEDIATRICS Vol. 73 No. 4 April 1984, pp. 431-434
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bratlid, D.
Right arrow Articles by Oh, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bratlid, D.
Right arrow Articles by Oh, W.

Effect of Acidosis on Bilirubin Deposition in Rat Brain

Dag Bratlid MD, PhD1, William J. Cashore MD1, and William Oh MD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, and Section of Pediatrics, Brown University Program in Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island

The effect of metabolic and respiratory acidosis on bilirubin and albumin entry into the brain was studied in 24 awake and unanesthetized rats. Hyperbilirubinemia was established by infusion of unconjugated bilirubin at a rate of 30 mg/kg/h for three hours. After two hours, metabolic acidosis was produced in eight rats by infusion of 0.5 N hydrochloric acid at a rate of 0.02 mL/g/h. This reduced the pH level to 7.03 ± 0.01 (mean ± SEM) with a normal value for Pco2. Respiratory acidosis was produced in another group of eight animals who breathed 20% CO2 in a balanced gas mixture for the last hour of the study period. This resulted in a reduction of pH to 7.04 ± 0.01 with Pco2 of 100.4 ± 2.3 mm Hg. A third group of eight rats served as controls and were given equal volumes of saline infusion. No increase in brain bilirubin or brain albumin was found in the group with metabolic acidosis, but in the group with respiratory acidosis both bilirubin and albumin concentrations in the brain increased significantly. No significant differences were found between the groups in serum total or apparent unbound bilirubin, albumin, or osmolality. The results indicate that a brief period of acidosis per se does not increase bilirubin entry into the brain, but hypercarbia does so by opening of the blood-brain barrier.

Key Words: acidosis • blood-brain barrier • hyperbilirubinemia • hypercarbia • kernicterus

Submitted on January 17, 1983
Accepted on June 8, 1983




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
P. Govaert, M. Lequin, R. Swarte, S. Robben, R. De Coo, N. Weisglas-Kuperus, Y. De Rijke, M. Sinaasappel, and J. Barkovich
Changes in Globus Pallidus With (Pre)Term Kernicterus
Pediatrics, December 1, 2003; 112(6): 1256 - 1263.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
J. M. Perlman, B. B. Rogers, and D. Burns
Kernicteric Findings at Autopsy in Two Sick Near Term Infants
Pediatrics, April 1, 1997; 99(4): 612 - 612.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CLIN PEDIATRHome page
T. W. R. Hansen
Bilirubin in the Brain: Distribution and Effects on Neurophysiological and Neurochemical Processes
Clinical Pediatrics, August 1, 1994; 33(8): 452 - 459.
[PDF]