Cardiometabolic risk in childhood: Could bilirubin act as a circadian clock-related mediator via autonomic dysfunction?
bilirubin seems to increase after light therapy not only as a result of activation of photoreceptors but also impacted by circadian clock regulatory mechanisms. 4 Nonetheless, in their retrospective study, the authors of the aforementioned paper found that neonatal serum bilirubin levels were positively associated with childhood blood pressure/hypertension in preterm infants. This suggests that neurotoxicity of bilirubin and its plausible impact on autonomic pathways via sympathetic nerve fibers may be involved in the neonatal pathophysiological mechanisms leading to hypertension.