Synthesis of a 10-oxo-bilirubin: Effects of the oxo group on conformation, transhepatic transport, and glucuronidation

Bilirubin, the yellow pigment of jaundice, is a linear tetrapyrrole with a methylene group at its center, C(10), a position of crucial importance to its conformation and metabolism. The presence of the central methylene group allows the bilirubin to fold into an intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformation. This paper describes the first synthesis of a bilirubin analogue with an oxo group at C(10). The change from CH₂ to C=O, from sp³ to sp², is designed to stress the molecule at its hinge and relax its conformation. Such compounds have been suggested as potential oxidative metabolites of bilirubin in vivo. 10-Oxo-mesobilirubin-XIIIα (1) is a red crystalline solid, unlike its parent, mesobilirubin-XIIIα, which is a bright yellow solid. It is surprisingly polar, relative to the parent, yet it does not exhibit a significantly larger bicarbonate/chloroform partition coefficient. Like the parent, 1 appears to adopt an intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded ridge-tile-like conformation. In normal rats, 1 is metabolized to acylglucuronides, which are secreted into bile, but a portion of the administered dose is secreted into bile intact. In mutant rats (Gunn rats) lacking bilirubin glucuronyl transferase, 1 was excreted efficiently in bile in unchanged form, unlike the parent with a methylene group at C(10). Thus, introduction of the oxygen function at C(10) has little effect on hepatic uptake but a dramatic effect on canalicular secretion into bile.