title: The Association between Prolonged Jaundice and UGT1A1 Gene Polymorphism (G71R) in Gilbert's Syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Jaundice is a common condition during the neonatal period. Prolonged jaundice occurs in a large number of breastfed infants. Considering the impact of genetic factors on the incidence of jaundice present study was conducted.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the association between prolonged jaundice and G71R polymorphism in Gilbert's syndrome.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case-control study was conducted at Taleghani Children's Hospital of Gorgan, Iran. The study group consisted of 87 icteric patients (aged more than 2 weeks) with an indirect bilirubin level higher than 10mg/dL. The control group consisted of 81 newborns without jaundice. The two groups were matched in terms of age and gender. DNA extraction was performed by "phenol-chloroform" method. Polymerase Chain Reaction with Confronting Two-Pair Primers (PCR-CTPP) was applied to amplify G71R polymorphism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 84% and 64% of subjects in the study and control groups were male, respectively. The distribution of Gilbert genotype was not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.772). There was a correlation between prolonged jaundice in males and UGT1A1 G71R polymorphism (p =0.03). In the study group, 5(5.7%) subjects were homozygous (for A/A), 73 (83.9%) were heterozygous (for A/G), and 9(10.3%) were normal (for G/G). In the control group, 3(3.7%) participants were homozygous (A/A), 68(84%) were heterozygous (A/G) and 10 (12.3%) were normal (G/G).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no association between prolonged jaundice and G71R polymorphism, even though a relationship was revealed between male gender and the mentioned polymorphism.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Neonatal and Children's Health Research Center, Golestan, University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alaee
authors.affiliation: Medical Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Department of Medical Genetics, Taleghani Children's Hospital, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bazrafshan
authors.affiliation: Pediatrician, Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Azaminejad
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Neonatal and Children's Health Research Center, Golestan, University of Medical Sciences , Gorgan, Iran .
authors.forename: Mahnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fouladinejad
authors.affiliation: Medical Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Department of Medical Genetics, Taleghani Children's Hospital, Golestan University of MedicalSciences , Gorgan, Iran .
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahbazi
keywords: Billirubin metabolism; Icter; Infants