The Dubin-Johnson syndrome (DJS) is characterized by a hereditary conjugated hyperbilirubinemia and a typical dark pigment accumulation in liver parenchymal cells. In the present study the renal excretion of leukotrienes in five patients with histologically established DJS and five age- and sex-matched healthy subjects was investigated. Endogenous urinary leukotrienes were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and subsequently quantified by immunoassays and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Patients with DJS excreted significantly (P < 0.01) greater amounts of cysteinyl leukotriene, LTE4 (8-fold), the [omega]-oxidation product [omega]-carboxy-LTE4 (15-fold) and the [beta]-oxidation metabolite [omega]-carboxytetranor-LTE3 (26-fold) into urine than healthy controls. These results imply that in DJS leukotriene elimination into bile is defective, leading to a compensatory renal leukotriene elimination and a typical excretion pattern of urinary leukotriene metabolites. Analysis of endogenous urinary leukotrienes seems to be a new approach to the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease.
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