Serum Bilirubin Levels and Disease Severity in Patients with Pneumoconiosis

AIM: To investigate the association between serum bilirubin and disease severity in patients with pneumoconiosis. METHODS: The study comprised 45 patients with pneumoconiosis retrospectively; all pneumoconiosis patients were classified into I, II, and III stage according to the radiological severity. RESULTS: Serum direct bilirubin levels were significantly lower in III stage pneumoconiosis patients than those in I/II stage (p = 0.012) but not serum indirect bilirubin. Serum direct bilirubin was negatively correlated with radiological severity in patients with pneumoconiosis (r = −0.320; p = 0.032); by multiple linear-regression analysis, we observed that serum direct bilirubin levels had independent association with radiological severity in patients with pneumoconiosis (beta = −0.459; p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Serum direct bilirubin levels are negatively associated with disease severity in patients with pneumoconiosis.