Bay Biosciences provides high quality, clinical grade, liver biopsy tissue samples, FFPE  tissue blocks with matched cryogenically preserved sera (serum), plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluid samples from patients diagnosed with Jaundice.

Moreover, the serum, plasma and PBMCs are processed from jaundice patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.

Furthermore, the biopsy tissue and matched biofluid samples are collected from unique patients diagnosed with jaundice and are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, discovery and drug development.

 

Jaundice Overview

Jaundice is a condition in which the skin, sclera (whites of the eyes), and mucous membranes turn yellow. Specifically, this yellow color comes from a high level of bilirubin, a yellow-orange bile pigment. Furthermore, the liver secretes bile, which is a fluid. Additionally, the breakdown of red blood cells produces bilirubin.

Interestingly, the term jaundice is derived from the French word jaune, which means yellow. Consequently, jaundice is not a disease per se, but rather a visible sign of an underlying disease process.

  • Typically, jaundice appears when the level of bilirubin in the blood exceeds 2.5-3 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter).
  • Moreover, medical conditions and diseases can cause jaundice in adults, some of which could be serious and potentially life-threatening.
  • As a result, adult patients who develop jaundice need to undergo a comprehensive medical evaluation and diagnostic tests in order to determine the cause.
  • In contrast, jaundice in neonatal (newborns) is a condition that is most often benign and improves without serious after-effects.

According to march of march of dimes website Newborn jaundice is very common, around 60% or 3 in 5 babies have jaundice.

Causes of Jaundice

Jaundice in adults is caused by various medical conditions that affect the normal metabolism or excretion of bilirubin. Bilirubin primarily forms from the daily breakdown and destruction of red blood cells (RBCs) in the bloodstream, which release hemoglobin as they rupture.

The heme portion of this hemoglobin molecule is then converted into bilirubin, which is transported in the bloodstream to the liver for further metabolism and excretion. In the liver, the bilirubin is conjugated with glucuronic acid (made more water-soluble), and is excreted into the gallbladder (where it is stored) and then eventually passed into the intestines.

Bilirubin

In the intestines, a portion of the bilirubin is excreted in the feces, while some are metabolized by the intestinal bacteria to urobilinogen and excreted in the urine.

Jaundice occurs if there is a dysfunction of the normal metabolism and/or excretion of bilirubin. This disruption in the metabolism or excretion of bilirubin can occur at various stages, and it is, therefore, useful to classify the different causes of jaundice based on where the dysfunction occurs.

The medical community generally classifies the causes of jaundice as pre-hepatic (the problem arises before secretion to the liver), hepatic (the problem arises within the liver), and post-hepatic (the problem arises after bilirubin is excreted from the liver).

Underlying Conditions

Adult patients can develop jaundice because of many different reasons. Following are some of the underlying conditions and diseases which may cause jaundice:

  • Alcohol-related liver disease: If someone drinks too much alcohol over a long period of time, such as 8 to 10 years continuously, their liver could get seriously damaged. Liver diseases such as alcoholic cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis can damage the liver.
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Blocked bile ducts: Bile ducts are thin tubes that carry a fluid called bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. Sometimes, the bile ducts get blocked by gallstones, cancer, or rare liver diseases, which can cause jaundice.
  • Certain drugs and toxins: Drugs like acetaminophen, penicillin, birth control pills and steroids are linked to developing liver disease.
  • Cirrhosis of the liver (caused by various conditions including alcohol toxicity)
  • Crigler-Najjar syndrome
  • Cholangitis
  • Hepatitis: Most of the time, this infection is caused by a virus. It may be short-lived (acute) or chronic, which means it lasts for at least 6 months. Drugs or autoimmune disorders can cause hepatitis. Over time, it can damage the liver and lead to jaundice
  • Gilbert’s syndrome
  • Pancreatitis
  • Pancreatic cancer: Pancreatic cancer can block the bile duct, causing jaundice
  • Parasites (for example, liver flukes)
  • Strictures of the bile ducts
  • Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinomas)

Signs and Symptoms of Jaundice

Depending on the underlying cause of jaundice, patients may experience different symptoms. Some patients may have very few signs and symptoms, while others may experience more severe and pronounced symptoms.

Patients with jaundice may experience any of the following signs and symptoms:

Diagnosis of Jaundice

Usually as a first step, doctors will conduct a bilirubin test, which measures the amount of the substance in the blood, a complete blood count (CBC) and other liver function tests are performed. If a patient has jaundice, the level of bilirubin will be high.

Blood tests includes the following:

  • Complete blood count (CBC)
  • Electrolyte pane
  • Lipase levels 
  • Liver function tests

Blood testing for exposure to hepatitis may also be performed. Depending on the results of initial blood tests, further studies may be needed to help diagnose the underlying disease process. These imaging studies may include:

  • Abdominal ultrasound
  • CT scan (computerized tomography)
  • HIDA scan (cholescintigraphy)
  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Occasionally, jaundice patients will need further invasive testing to determine the cause of the condition. 

Treatment for Jaundice

The treatment for jaundice depends entirely on the underlying cause of the condition. In certain patients with jaundice, the treatment will consist of supportive care and can be managed at home. Novel drugs for hepatitis C can offer cure for this condition.

  • Alcohol cessation is necessary in patients with cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, or acute pancreatitis secondary to alcohol use.
  • Jaundice caused by drugs/medications/toxins requires discontinuation of the offending agent.
  • Various medications may be used to treat the conditions leading to jaundice, such as steroids in the treatment of some autoimmune disorders. Certain patients with cirrhosis, for example, may require treatment with diuretics and lactulose.
  • Patients with cancer leading to jaundice will require consultation with an oncologist, and the treatment will vary depending on the type and staging of the cancer.
  • Surgery and various invasive procedures may be required for certain patients with jaundice. For example, certain patients with gallstones may require surgery. Other individuals with liver failure/cirrhosis may require a surgery or a liver transplant.

Complications of Jaundice

The type of complication and the severity of complications vary with the underlying cause leading to jaundice. Certain individuals will not suffer any long-term after effects and will have a full recovery, while for others the appearance of jaundice will be the first indication of a life-threatening condition. A few of the potential complications include:

  • Anemia
  • Bleeding
  • Brain dysfunction
  • Cancer
  • Chronic hepatitis
  • Electrolyte abnormalities
  • Infection/Sepsis
  • Kidney failure
  • Liver failure

Risk Factors of Jaundice

Jaundice most often happens as a result of an underlying disorder that either causes the production of too much bilirubin or prevents the liver from getting rid of it. Both of these cause bilirubin to deposit in tissues.

Following underlying conditions may cause jaundice:

  • Acute inflammation of the liver: This may impair the ability of the liver to conjugate and secrete bilirubin, resulting in a buildup.
  • Inflammation of the bile duct: This can prevent the secretion of bile and removal of bilirubin, causing jaundice.
  • Obstruction of the bile duct: This prevents the liver from disposing of bilirubin.
  • Hemolytic anemia: The breakdown of large quantities of red blood cells increases the production of bilirubin.
  • Gilbert’s syndrome: This is an inherited condition that impairs the ability of enzymes to process the excretion of bile.
  • Cholestasis: This interrupts the flow of bile from the liver. The liver retains the bile containing conjugated bilirubin instead of excreting it.

Biospecimens

biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Moreover, human biospecimens are available including tumor tissue, serum, plasma and PBMC Samples from most other therapeutic areas.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and likewise normal healthy donors for controls. Additionally, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, researchers find the patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, as well as in other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human bio-fluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

  • Firstly, peripheral whole-blood
  • Secondly, amniotic fluid
  • Thirdly, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
  • Next, sputum
  • Also, pleural effusion
  • Moreover, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
  • Likewise, serum (sera)
  • In addition, plasma
  • Moreover, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) 
  • Furthermore, saliva
  • Next, buffy coat
  • Accordingly, urine
  • For example, Stool samples
  • Also, aqueous humor
  • And, vitreous humor
  • Lastly, kidney stones (renal calculi)
  • Finally, other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols. you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us in multiple format and sets.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.