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Hemoglobin Catabolism and Bilirubin

Hemoglobin is broken down into bilirubin, heme, and globin. Bilirubin is processed in the liver and excreted in bile or reabsorbed and excreted in urine. There are three main types of jaundice resulting from bilirubin accumulation: hemolytic jaundice from excessive red blood cell breakdown, hepatic jaundice from liver damage preventing bilirubin removal, and biliary obstruction jaundice when bilirubin cannot exit the liver due to bile duct blockage.

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110 views2 pages

Hemoglobin Catabolism and Bilirubin

Hemoglobin is broken down into bilirubin, heme, and globin. Bilirubin is processed in the liver and excreted in bile or reabsorbed and excreted in urine. There are three main types of jaundice resulting from bilirubin accumulation: hemolytic jaundice from excessive red blood cell breakdown, hepatic jaundice from liver damage preventing bilirubin removal, and biliary obstruction jaundice when bilirubin cannot exit the liver due to bile duct blockage.

Uploaded by

Jacob Masika
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hemoglobin Catabolism and Bilirubin

Introduction:

The catabolism of hemoglobin is outlined in the graphic on the left.


blood cells are continuously undergoing a hemolysis (breaking apar
process. The average life-time of a red blood cell is 120 days. As th
blood cells disintegrate, the hemoglobin is degraded or broken into
globin, the protein part, iron (conserved for latter use), and heme (se
middle graphic). The heme initially breaks apart into biliverdin, a g
pigment which is rapidly reduced to bilirubin, an orange-yellow
pigment (see bottom graphic). These processes all occur in the
reticuloendothelial cells of the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. The
bilirubin is then transported to the liver where it reacts with a
solubilizing sugar called glucuronic acid. This more soluble form of
bilirubin (conjugated) is excreted into the bile.

The bile goes through the gall bladder into the intestines where the
bilirubin is changed into a variety of pigments. The most important
are stercobilin, which is excreted in the feces, and urobilinogen, wh
is reabsorbed back into the blood. The blood transports the urobilino
back to the liver where it is either re-excreted into the bile or into th
blood for transport to the kidneys. Urobilinogen is finally excreted a
normal component of the urine.
 

Types of Jaundice:

Various conditions of jaundice result from the accumulation of bilir


in the blood. A jaundice condition is characterized by yellow color
skin due to the presence of bilirubin.

Hemolytic Jaundice:

Excessive hemolysis or breakdown of red blood cells causes the


formation of higher than normal amounts of bilirubin. Bilirubin mad
the liver goes into bile and then into the gall bladder and into the
intestines where most is excreted. The liver works normally, but cou
eventually be damaged from overwork. Usually the liver can handle
excess and the bilirubin is excreted via intestines and does not usual
spill over into the kidneys. Urobilinogen levels are likely to be elev
in the blood and urine.

Hepatic Jaundice:
Hepatic jaundice is caused by damage or disease in the liver. Heme
enters the liver but it does not take out as much bilirubin as is norm
Bilirubin builds up in the blood and spills over into the kidneys whi
filter it out into the urine. The amount of urobilinogen in the urine w
be either normal or low if not enough bilirubin is being removed by
liver into bile and the intestines.

Biliary Obstruction:

If bilirubin cannot reach the intestinal area because of a blockage in


bile duct, than bilirubin builds up in the blood because it cannot get
of the liver. Bilirubin is then removed by the kidneys into the urine.
Little if any, urobilinogen will be found in the urine since little or n
bilirubin is reaching the intestines.

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