American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 65, 72-78, Copyright © 1997 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Copper status of young men consuming a low-copper diet

JR Turnlund, KC Scott, GL Peiffer, AM Jang, WR Keyes, CL Keen and TM Sakanashi
Western Human Nutrition Research Center, San Francisco, CA 94129, USA. A03RLMICRONU@ATTMAIL.COM

A study was conducted in 11 young men to evaluate the effect of a low- copper diet on indexes of copper status and to define an amount of dietary copper at which adequate copper status could not be maintained. The young men were confined to a metabolic research unit for 90 d. The study was divided into three periods, with dietary copper as the only variable. Dietary copper was 0.66 mg/d for 24 d, 0.38 mg/d for 42 d, and 2.49 mg/d for 24 d. Plasma copper, ceruloplasmin activity, ceruloplasmin concentration, and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured at selected time points during each dietary copper period. Urine was collected throughout the study. Plasma copper, ceruloplasmin concentration and activity, and urinary copper declined significantly during the lowest dietary copper period. Plasma copper, ceruloplasmin concentration, and urinary copper increased in response to repletion. The average erythrocyte SOD concentration was lower during the depletion period than in the periods before or after depletion, but it did not decline significantly over time in the depletion period. The results suggest that these indexes are sensitive to copper depletion; that 0.38 mg Cu/d is not sufficient to maintain copper status in normal, healthy young men; and that the minimum dietary copper requirement is between 0.4 and 0.8 mg/d.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Brem, S. A. Grossman, K. A. Carson, P. New, S. Phuphanich, J. B. Alavi, T. Mikkelsen, J. D. Fisher, and for the New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy CNS Phase 2 trial of copper depletion and penicillamine as antiangiogenesis therapy of glioblastoma Neuro-oncol, July 1, 2005; 7(3): 246 - 253. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. R Turnlund, W. R Keyes, S. K. Kim, and J. M Domek Long-term high copper intake: effects on copper absorption, retention, and homeostasis in men Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, April 1, 2005; 81(4): 822 - 828. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R Turnlund, R. A Jacob, C. L Keen, J. Strain, D. S Kelley, J. M Domek, W. R Keyes, J. L Ensunsa, J. Lykkesfeldt, and J. Coulter Long-term high copper intake: effects on indexes of copper status, antioxidant status, and immune function in young men Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, June 1, 2004; 79(6): 1037 - 1044. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Bertinato, M. Iskandar, and M. R. L'Abbe Copper Deficiency Induces the Upregulation of the Copper Chaperone for Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase in Weanling Male Rats J. Nutr., January 1, 2003; 133(1): 28 - 31. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Kamunde, M. Grosell, D. Higgs, and C. M. Wood Copper metabolism in actively growing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): interactions between dietary and waterborne copper uptake J. Exp. Biol., January 15, 2002; 205(2): 279 - 290. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]