bilirubin
A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish color seen in bruises. Extremely high levels of bilirubin may cause jaundice.
A kind of
- animal pigment
Related words
- azobilirubin
- biliblanket
- bilirubinaemia
- bilirubinemia
- bilirubinencephalopathy
- bilirubinoid
- bilirubinostasis
- bilirubinuria
- hydrobilirubin
- mesobilirubin
Word history
From German "Bilirubin".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “bilirubin” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.