[Bilirubin in the early neonatal period. Is there a positive aspect of hyperbilirubinemia?--A medical hypothesis].

The fact that almost all neonates exhibit a "physiological" jaundice, prompts the question whether bilirubin, usually exclusively considered a potentially toxic endproduct of the metabolism of heme, might not also have a positive task in the first days of life. A recently discovered property of bilirubin under in vitro conditions is its ability to combine with free oxygen radicals such as are produced in the oxidative metabolic processes of the neonate immediately following birth. In the present article, the concept of the anti-oxidative effect of bilirubin, and its translation to the early neonatal period is presented and discussed on the basis of a number of examples.