Glucuronide synthesis as a test of liver function.

Jaundice is the clinical manifestation of increased levels of serum bilirubin, and is evident when this level rises above 2 mg%. Jaundice results from a breakdown in either uptake, conjugation or excretion or bilirubin by the liver, and the origin or the symptom can usually be determined by the type of pigment present in the serum. About 50% of all newborn infants exhibit some degree of jaundice, which seldom exceeds 10 mg% and is maximal between the third and fourth days of life. This is generally referred to as “icterus neonatorum” or physiological jaundice. Superimposed on this "icterus neonatorum” are the more severe cases of jaundice for which there is a known cause. These include blood group incompatability between mother and child (erythroblastosis fetalis), septicemia, hepatitis and congenital obliteration of the bile duct