Temperature and albumin effects on adsorption of bilirubin from standard solution using anion-exchange resin.

The efficacy of plasma bilirubin sorption for the treatment of patients with hepatic dysfunction can be determined by a quantitative evaluation of bilirubin adsorption. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of temperature (4-42 degrees C) and albumin concentration (0.5-5.0 g%) on bilirubin removal from solution by an anion-exchange resin. For a constant albumin concentration, adsorption increased with temperature. The adsorption isotherm curves did not show saturation at the lower temperatures. At a constant temperature, adsorption increased with decreasing albumin concentration. A one-parameter model was used to describe the data for bilirubin adsorption at all temperatures and for all initial concentrations of bilirubin and albumin. This parameter increased monotonically with temperature and decreased monotonically with albumin concentration. From a practical clinical point of view, bilirubin sorption may be increased by operation of the sorbent column at above ambient temperature.