Hope for new borns
A scientist at the B R Ambedkar Centre for Bio-medical Research in the University of Delhi claims to have discovered an effective cure for physiological neonatal jaundice, an affliction that is responsible for 70 per cent of the deaths among newborns suffering from jaundice. The breakthrough has been achieved by Ramesh Chandra, who has been working in collaboration with a team from the New York-based Rockefeller University hospital on a project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The cure for hyperbilirubinimia (physiological jaundice) came after intensive research of the molecular structure of heme, the organic component of haemoglobin. Chandra says that the disease is caused by the degradation of heme, coupled with the immaturity of the liver in the neonatal stage. This leads to excessive concentration of bilirubin, an orange-yellow bile pigment that can be fatal for children. So far, treatments involved exposing the infant to blue-white light or phototherapy. However, this is ineffectual when the bilirubin level crosses 18 mg per 100 ml of blood.
The cure formulated by Chandra and the Rockefeller University team reduced bilirubin levels from 20 mg bilirubin per 100 ml blood to 0.5 mg. Chandra replaced the iron in heme with other elements such as tin mesophyrin and tin protophyrin. The latter, he says, gave "amazing results". The drug has been tested on rats and monkeys by Chandra's team. Tests were also carried out on humans in Singapore, says Chandra. The drug is to be marketed by an American firm after it is evaluated by US health authorities.
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