Author
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Klevay, Leslie |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2001 Publication Date: 2/23/2002 Citation: Klevay, L.M. 2002. Assessment of copper nutriture in rats [abstract]. Presented at the First Annual Nutrition Week Meeting, February 23-27, 2002, San Diego, CA. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Liver copper is the best indicator of copper nutriture in animal experiments (Klevay and Saari, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 203: 214, 1993). Sixty male, weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were matched by weight (mean = 49g) into 5 groups given a purified diet (Klevay, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 26: 1060, 1973) based on sucrose (62%), egg white protein (20%) and corn oil (10%) containing enough zinc chloride to add 13 ug Zn/g of diet and all other essential nutrients including biotin. Drinking solutions containing 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 ug Cu/ml (as sulfate) were supplied. After 30 days, when 3 rats died with cardiovascular pathology, others were killed and samples taken. Liver copper was greater with each solution dose; plateau (ANOVA p < 0.05) reached around 2 ug/ml. Animal characteristics were plotted against liver copper as dependent variables and curves were fitted to linear, quadratic and logistic functions which were selected for statistical significance and biological plausibility. Plasma cholesterol and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and liver iron had linear declines (R**2 = 0.17 to 0.27, p < 0.002). Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (R**2 = 0.44 to 0.72, p = 0.0001, depending on units and models) was more closely associated to liver copper than was extracellular superoxide dismutase (R**2 = 0.19, p = 0.002). Both decreased in deficiency. |
