Phototherapy, hyperbilirubinemia and genotoxicity in newborns

Bilirubin-Induced Oxidative Stress Leads to DNA Damage in the Cerebellum of Hyperbilirubinemic Neonatal Mice and Activates DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathways in Human Cells

Unconjugated bilirubin is considered a potent antioxidant when present at moderate levels. However, at high concentrations, it produces severe neurological damage and death associated with kernicterus due to oxidative stress and other mechanisms. While it is widely recognized that oxidative stress by different toxic insults results in severe damage to cellular macromolecules, especially to DNA, no data are available either on DNA damage in the brain triggered by hyperbilirubinemia during the neonatal period or on the activation of DNA repair mechanisms. Here, using a mouse model of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, we demonstrated that DNA damage occurs in vivo in the cerebellum, the brain region most affected by bilirubin toxicity. We studied the mechanisms associated with potential toxic action of bilirubin on DNA in in vitro models, which showed significant increases in DNA damage when neuronal and nonneuronal cells were treated with 140 nM of free bilirubin (Bf), as determined by γH2AX Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses. Cotreatment of cells with N-acetyl-cysteine, a potent oxidative-stress inhibitor, prevented DNA damage by bilirubin, supporting the concept that DNA damage was caused by bilirubin-induced oxidative stress. Bilirubin treatment also activated the main DNA repair pathways through homologous recombination (HR) and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), which may be adaptive responses to repair bilirubin-induced DNA damage. Since DNA damage may be another important factor contributing to neuronal death and bilirubin encephalopathy, these results contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms associated with bilirubin toxicity and may be of relevance in neonates affected with severe hyperbilirubinemia.

Neonates with sickle cell disease are vulnerable to blue light phototherapy-induced oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokine elevations

Sickle cell disease is a frequent genetic anomaly characterized by altered molecular structure of hemoglobin resulting into crescent-like deformation of the red blood corpuscles. Neonatal jaundice is a frequent co-morbidity in sickle cell disease. Phototherapy induces isomerization of bilirubin rendering it extractable through urine and hence it is used as a routine treatment of neonatal jaundice. An exposure to light phototherapy as a treatment of neonatal jaundice induces oxidative stress. It is hypothesized that such exposure of neonates with sickle cell disease to the blue light phototherapy as a treatment of neonatal jaundice induces severe oxidative stress and increases the levels of proinflammatory cytokines. This hypothesis is supported with two case studies of sickle cell disease suffering neonates who were exposed to blue light phototherapy to treat jaundice. In both these cases, exposure to phototherapy induced oxidative stress (increased lipid peroxidation and superoxide dismutase, slight change in activity of catalase and GSH) and elevated the levels of proinflammatory cytokine (TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6) in the sickle cell disease suffering neonates. These observations warrant further investigations to determine the consequences and clinical significance of the blue phototherapy-induced oxidative and proinflammatory stress in Sickle cell disease suffering neonates exposed to phototherapy as a treatment of jaundice.