Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

These tests follow much the same pattern as conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin. After bile reaches the duodenum, intestinal bacteria convert most of the bilirubin to urobilinogen. Much urobilinogen is lost in the feces, but part is absorbed into the bloodstream. Once in the blood, most of the urobilinogen goes through the liver and is extracted […]

Bilirubin is formed from breakdown of hemoglobin molecules by the reticuloendothelial system. Newly formed (unconjugated) bilirubin circulates in blood bound nonpermanently to serum albumin and is carried to the liver, where it is extracted by hepatic parenchymal cells, conjugated first with one and then with a second glucuronide molecule to form bilirubin diglucuronide, and then […]