A method was developed to extract quantitatively the bilirubins from bile, urine, serum, stool, and preparations from liver with a
chloroform-
ethanol mixture at pH 1.8 in the presence of
ascorbic acid and NaCl. Extracted pigment was submitted to thin-layer chromatography, and the separated bilirubins were either immediately eluted and determined spectrophotometrically or individually converted to
ethyl anthranilate azo derivatives for thin-layer chromatographic analysis of each isolated pigment band. Bilirubins in duodenal bile of eight healthy adults comprised 1.5 +/- 1.3% unconjugated
bilirubin-IX alpha, 69 +/- 6%
bilirubin diglucuronide, and 16 +/- 4%
bilirubin monoglucuronides. Mixed diconjugates containing one glucuronosyl moiety and either one xylosyl or one glucosyl group amounted to 10 +/- 3%. Most samples (6 of 8) contained trace amounts (0.6 +/- 0.6%) of unconjugated
bilirubin-IX beta, in agreement with nearly exclusive cleavage of
heme at the alpha-meso position. The composition of the bilirubins in bile was normal in 6 patients with
cholesterol gallstones, 4 with
chronic hepatitis, and 3 with
hemolysis. In duodenal bile of individuals with
Gilbert's syndrome (n = 10), the concentration of
bilirubin conjugates was comparable to that in healthy adults, but the proportion of
bilirubin diglucuronides (52 +/- 8%) was decreased. The concentration of unconjugated
bilirubin-IX alpha showed a fair positive correlation with that of
bilirubin monoglucuronide and was increased in half of the patients with
Gilbert's syndrome.