CONJUGATION OF SULFOBROMOPHTHALEIN IN NEWBORN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

It has been shown recently by several research groups (1-5) that part of sulfobromophthalein (BSP), after intravenous injection into humans and animals, is excreted in the bile in a conjugated form. BSP conjugates also have been demon-strated in serum and urine (6, 7). Evidence has been presented that the amino acids, glycine, glu-tamic acid, and cysteine, are present in the conju-gates (4, 8, 9). The peptide, glutathione, appears to be conjugated with BSP (8, 10, 11). The ques-tion as to how important conjugation is for BSP excretion has not been settled so far. It is clear, however, that conjugation is not essential for BSP secretion and that at least part of the BSP can be secreted in the free form. In liver disease the rela