Bilirubin is the catabolic product of heme metabolism. Human bilirubin is mainly derived from the degradation of aging red blood cells, while the remaining derives from the ineffective erythropoiesis and the breakdown of other hemoproteins such as cytochromes, myoglobin, and catalase. Heme is degraded by heme oxygenase, resulting in the release of iron and the formation of carbon monoxide and biliverdin[7]. Biliverdin is converted to unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) by the action of biliverdin reductase. The UCB is lipophilic and tightly binds to albumin, which is transported to the liver. UCB dissociates from albumin and binds to proteins of the glutathione-S-transferases family in liver hepatocytes. UCB combines with glucuronic acid by the enzyme uridine diphospho-glucuronate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT1A1) to form conjugated bilirubin[8]. Conjugation increases the solubility of bilirubin in plasma and thereby make it easy to be eliminated from the body. After secreted by hepatocytes and discharged into the intestinal cavity, conjugated bilirubin can be hydrolyzed and reduced by intestinal flora to produce bilirubin, most of which are discharged through feces, while a small amount of bilirubin is reabsorbed into the circulation by intestinal mucosal cells[9].
When bilirubin is excessive, bilirubin can be excessively accumulated in the body, resulting in hyperbilirubinemia. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is one of the common diseases in neonatal period. In order to avoid the toxic effect of free bilirubin, which lead to cell damage in the central nervous system and cause acute bilirubin encephalopathy and nuclear jaundice, a relatively reasonable diagnosis and treatment guideline for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia has been developed. In recent years, there have been many studies on the etiology and related risk factors of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in China and abroad[10–12]. However, the etiology of hyperbilirubinemia is easily affected by environment and other relative factors. Therefore, the analysis of the etiology of neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia in eastern Guangdong is of great significance to reduce the incidence of severe hyperbilirubinemia and its serious complications in the region.
Our study found that 32.20% of the 1602 hospitalized newborns with hyperbilirubinemia were severe hyperbilirubinemia. Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) was the most common cause of severe hyperbilirubinemia in full-term newborns. ABO blood group incompatibility is one of the most common causes of HDN which often occurs in infants of blood type A or B with mothers of blood type O. The blood type antibody in mother combines with the corresponding antigen on the surface of fetal red blood cells during pregnancy. Macrophages and natural killer cells in newborn destroy sensitized red blood cells, resulting in hemolysis, jaundice and anemia after birth [13].
At the same time, 68 cases of G6PD deficiency was identified (11.72%, 68/580) in this study, including single G6PD deficiency (53 cases) and G6PD deficiency combined with other causes (15 cases). The incidence of G6PD deficiency was relatively high, which might be related to the geographical location of Chaozhou. G6PD deficiency was mainly prevalent in southern China. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency in Chaozhou was 3.36%[14]. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency in severe hyperbilirubinemia group was higher than that of the general population. G6PD deficiency causes increased susceptibility of erythrocytes to H2O2 and other reactive oxygen species that can lead to hemolytic anemia, and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia resulting in neonatal kernicterus.. G6PD deficiency is an important reason for severe hyperbilirubinemia in full-term newborns. Of the cases with G6PD deficiency, 11 cases were combined with infection. Infection was the main cause of acute hemolysis in G6PD deficiency [15]. We performed gene analysis in 43 cases of G6PD deficiency and found that c.1388G > A and c.1376G > T were the most common variants in severe hyperbilirubinemia neonates. The bilirubin level in severe hyperbilirubinemia caused by hemolysis is high, and it occurs early and develops rapidly. In addition, neonatal blood-brain barrier is not fully developed, bilirubin encephalopathy and even death are prone to occur.
Infection was another cause of severe hyperbilirubinemia (12.74%). Hyperbilirubinemia caused by infection may be due to the imperfect immune function of newborns and lack of mature defense ability, and the neonate is easy to be infected by viruses and bacteria. The destruction of the erythrocyte membrane by the pathogen themselves or secreted toxins, results in hemolysis and increased bilirubin production. At the same time, infection can cause liver dysfunction, inhibit the activity of UGT1A1, and reduce the ability of liver to deal with bilirubin. Hyperbilirubinemia may be the only manifestation of infection[16]. Because of the low positive rate of blood culture, lack of diagnostic basis for infection, the bilirubin may increase and progress to severe hyperbilirubinemia.
Breast milk jaundice is a clinical diagnosis made after excluding the known causes of hyperbilirubinemia. At present, there is still a lack of reliable laboratory testing methods to get this diagnosis. Breast milk jaundice can be divided into early breastfeeding jaundice and late breast milk jaundice[17]. In our study, 9 cases (1.55%) of early breastfeeding jaundice and 22 cases (3.79%) of late breast milk jaundice were identified. Early breast feeding deficiency leads to insufficient calorie intake, reduced intestinal peristalsis, and increased bilirubin enterohepatic circulation, resulting in early hyperbilirubinemia, which is manifested by a weight loss of 10% within one week after birth. Late breast milk jaundice occurs relatively late, and the bilirubin generally peaks on about the 7th to14th days of life. The jaundice can last for 2–3 weeks or even 2–3 months, which may be caused by many factors [18].
Maruo[19] and Sato[20] reported that the variant of UGT1A1 c.211G > A was an important cause of breast milk jaundice in newborns, and the serum bilirubin level of breast milk jaundice newborns with this variant was significantly higher than that of breast milk jaundice newborns without this variant. This indicated that the presence of UGT1A1 c.211G > A variant could promote breast milk jaundice. The product encoded by UGT1A1 gene is bilirubin uridine diphosphate glucuronyltransferase. UGT1A1 variant make the activity of this enzyme reduced, so that bilirubin cannot combine with glucuronide to form conjugated bilirubin. The unconjugated bilirubin accumulates in the body, and resulting in different degrees of hyperbilirubinemia [ 21,22].
The UGT1A1 c.211G > A was a risk factor for neonatal severe hyperbilirubinemia in eastern Guangdong, which might occur with other causes simultaneously. Among the 94 cases with UGT1A1 variants data, we found that 18 cases were UGT1A1 gene variant combined with G6PD deficiency, 10 cases were UGT1A1 gene variant combined with ABO hemolysis. Our previous study found that in the newborns with hyperbilirubinemia which due to G6PD deficiency, bilirubin level showed an increasing trend with the accumulation of UGT1A1 c.211G > A variant[5] ; Yang, et al[23] reported that the risk of neonatal severe hyperbilirubinemia increased significantly when ABO hemolytic neonates were combined with UGT1A1 gene mutation (especially 211A > G homozygous mutation).
For severe hyperbilirubinemia neonates with unknown etiology, due to limited conditions, we did not perform gene detection for all cases, resulting in some missing causes. Pathological jaundice, especially severe jaundice, is often the result of multiple influencing factors, while genetic factors are often not to be tested and neglected. Detection of bilirubin-related genes such as G6PD and UGT1A1 in neonates can be used as an auxiliary test for clinicians to assess the risk of neonatal severe hyperbilirubinemia, which will benefit for early prevention, etiological exploration and genetic counseling.