Phototherapy: the cause of increased enterohepatic circulation of bilirubin in newborn infants?

The unconjugated/conjugated bilirubin ratio which was examined in the feces of 17 newborn infants submitted to phototherapy, was approximately 1:1 before, during and after the treatment. These results are not in keeping with those of Lund and Jacobsen who demonstrated an increased concentration of unconjugated bilirubin in duodenal bile. From this discrepancy one can deduce the unfavorable hypothesis that phototherapy stimulates the intestinal reabsorption of unconjugated bilirubin to the circulation.