Bilirubin, Phenobarbital and the Liver

Abstract

Phenobarbital causes a marked proliferation of the smooth-surfaced membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum in the liver cells. And, like many other compounds, it is an inducer of drug-metabolizing enzyme systems in the hepatic microsomes. Two recent observations linking these phenobarbital-induced changes in the liver with modifications of bilirubin metabolism have caught the fancy of hepatologists.As discussed by Robinson et al. elsewhere in this issue of the Journal, there is now strong evidence that a minor bile pigment fraction, instead of being derived from sequestration and breakdown of senescent erythrocytes, originates from nonhemoglobin sources in the liver. Kinetic and . . .