Jaundice phototherapy: micro flow-cell photometry reveals rapid biliary response of Gunn rats to light.

Hepatic pigment clearance in rats can be followed continuously with photometric detectors designed for high-pressure liquid chromatography. This method showed that light has a fast effect on bilirubin metabolism in homozygous Gunn rats, even at low doses and intensities. This is consistent with geometric isomerization of bilirubin IXalpha as a primary step in phototherapy.