[Bilirubin metabolism in the newborn. Recent progress].

The main stages of bilirubin metabolism and the present state of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia are reviewed. The heterogeneity of substrates for bilirubin synthesis and the regulation of the heme-oxygenase activity are stressed. The importance of albumin for the bilirubin transport and the factors modifying this transport are studied. The detection of free bilirubin and reserve bilirubin binding capacity in neonatal jaundice is discussed as a method to estimate the risk of kernicterus. The induction of bilirubin glucuronyl transferase activity with some drugs and the phototherapy are effective in the treatment of hyperbilirubinemia; their values are discussed from the most recent reports.