COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO PREPARATIONS OF HUMAN SERUM ALBUMIN IN TREATMENT OF NEONATAL HYPERBILIRUBINAEMIA

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Newborn infants (36) with normal birth weights and uncomplicated hyperbilirubinaemia, treated with light, were studied. At onset of phototherapy the infants received i.v. 1 g human serum albumin (HSA) kg body wt as a 9% solution. Two different preparations of HSA were used and compared. One of these, HSAI, contained sodium caprylate and N-acetyltryptophan, 5 mmol/l of each, as stabilizers. HSAII contained only caprylate, 5 mmol/l. Nineteen infants received HSAI and 17 infants HSAII. The reserve albumin for binding of bilirubin, measured by the [14C] MADDS method, was low in both preparations in vitro. During the infusion, the serum concentrations of albumin and reserve albumin increased and the serum unconjugated bilirubin concentration decreased, resulting in a fall in the index of plasma bilirubin toxicity in all infants. After completion of the infusion, the serum concentrations of albumin and reserve albumin declined, and a slight rise in index occurred. The increase in the serum reserve albumin concentration was markedly higher during infusion of HSAII than of HSAI. Evidently, infusion of both HSA preparations during phototherapy provides an immediate protection against bilirubin encephalopathy. HSAI is inferior to HSAII, probably due to its content of N-acetyltryptophan.