Abstract:Inflammation affects trace nutrient concentrations, but research on copper and particularly in children is limited. We assessed associations between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and zinc, iron, copper, and other biomarkers (alkaline phosphatase, hemoglobin, and albumin), in 634 healthy 6- to 11-year-old Guatemalan schoolchildren. CRP was measured by a standardized, high-sensitive method. For significant associations with CRP, we stratified nutrient concentrations across categories of CRP and compared concent… Show more
“…The finding also indicates that copper-to-zinc ratio correlated positively with CRP. Our finding is consistent with previous study [13]. Some authors reported significant association between inflammation and copper-to-zinc ratio in children while other observed no association [14].…”
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder of major health challenge in Nigeria. Micronutrients deficiencies often associated with the disorder may cause inflammation and abnormal metabolisms in the body. The copper-to-zinc ratio is a more important assessment than the concentrations of either of the metals in clinical practice. This study seeks to evaluate serum levels of c-reactive protein (CRP), copper, zinc and copper-to-zinc ratio and to correlate copper-to-zinc ratio with CRP in adult subjects with SCD. Serum copper, zinc, CRP and plasma fibrinogen were assayed in 100 confirmed SCD patients in steady clinical state and 100 age and sex matched subjects with normal haemoglobin. Serum copper and zinc were assayed by colorimetric method using reagents supplied by Centronic, Germany while CRP and fibrinogen were assayed using reagents supplied by Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA) and Anogen (Ontario, Canada), respectively. The copper to zinc ratio was calculated from serum levels of copper and zinc. The measured parameters were compared between the groups using Students t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to relate CRP with the other parameters. Serum copper, CRP, fibrinogen and copper-to-zinc ratio were significantly higher (p < 0.001) while zinc level was lower in SCD patients than controls. Serum CRP concentration correlated with copper (r = 0.10; p < 0.02), zinc (r = −0.199; p < 0.05) and Copper-to-zinc ratio (r = 0.312; p < 0.002) but the correlation between CRP and fibrinogen was not significant. Inflammatory condition may modulate copper and zinc homeostasis and copper-to-zinc ratio may be used as marker of nutritional deficiency and inflammation in SCD patients.
“…The finding also indicates that copper-to-zinc ratio correlated positively with CRP. Our finding is consistent with previous study [13]. Some authors reported significant association between inflammation and copper-to-zinc ratio in children while other observed no association [14].…”
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder of major health challenge in Nigeria. Micronutrients deficiencies often associated with the disorder may cause inflammation and abnormal metabolisms in the body. The copper-to-zinc ratio is a more important assessment than the concentrations of either of the metals in clinical practice. This study seeks to evaluate serum levels of c-reactive protein (CRP), copper, zinc and copper-to-zinc ratio and to correlate copper-to-zinc ratio with CRP in adult subjects with SCD. Serum copper, zinc, CRP and plasma fibrinogen were assayed in 100 confirmed SCD patients in steady clinical state and 100 age and sex matched subjects with normal haemoglobin. Serum copper and zinc were assayed by colorimetric method using reagents supplied by Centronic, Germany while CRP and fibrinogen were assayed using reagents supplied by Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA) and Anogen (Ontario, Canada), respectively. The copper to zinc ratio was calculated from serum levels of copper and zinc. The measured parameters were compared between the groups using Students t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to relate CRP with the other parameters. Serum copper, CRP, fibrinogen and copper-to-zinc ratio were significantly higher (p < 0.001) while zinc level was lower in SCD patients than controls. Serum CRP concentration correlated with copper (r = 0.10; p < 0.02), zinc (r = −0.199; p < 0.05) and Copper-to-zinc ratio (r = 0.312; p < 0.002) but the correlation between CRP and fibrinogen was not significant. Inflammatory condition may modulate copper and zinc homeostasis and copper-to-zinc ratio may be used as marker of nutritional deficiency and inflammation in SCD patients.
“…In our survey CRP serves mainly as a biomarker of inflammation or subclinical infection on days of blood sampling. A cutoff of >10 mg/L was used for abnormal serum CRP concentrations [ 18 ].…”
Iron deficiency constitutes a major public health problem in Morocco, mainly among women and children. The aim of our paper is to assess the efficacy of consumption of multiple micronutrients (MMN) fortified milk on iron status of Moroccan schoolchildren living in rural region. Children (N = 195), aged 7 to 9 y, were recruited from schools and divided into two groups: the nonfortified group (NFG) received daily a nonfortified Ultra-High-Temperature (UHT) milk and the fortified group received (FG) daily UHT milk fortified with multiple micronutrients including iron sulfate. Blood samples were collected at baseline (T0) and after 9 months (T9). Hemoglobin (Hb) was measured in situ by Hemocue device; ferritin and C Reactive Protein were assessed in serum using ELISA and nephelometry techniques, respectively. Results were considered significant when the p value was <0.05. At T9 FG showed a reduction of iron deficiency from 50.9% to 37.2% (p = 0.037). Despite the low prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (1.9%); more than 50% of children in our sample suffered from iron deficiency at baseline. The consumption of fortified milk reduced the prevalence of iron deficiency by 27% in schoolchildren living in high altitude rural region of Morocco. Clinical Trial Registration. Our study is registered in the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry with the identification number PACTR201410000896410.
“…Development of field‐friendly sampling methods has facilitated inclusion of biomarkers in large‐scale international programs such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (D. A. Garrett, Sangha, Kothari, & Boyle, ; McDade et al., ). Biomarkers have been incorporated extensively by anthropologists for population research in non‐Western settings (Gurven et al., ; Leonard et al., ; Worthman & Panter‐Brick, ), including in large birth cohort studies (Bui et al., ; Gettler, McDade, & Kuzawa, ; Kuzawa, Gettler, Muller, McDade, & Feranil, ; McDade et al., ). Nevertheless, our present understanding of human development—both biological and psychobehavioral—is recognized as limited by reliance on a narrow sampling from the wide sociocultural diversity that humans inhabit.…”
In recent decades, theoretical and methodological advances have operated synergistically to advance understanding of puberty and prompt increasingly comprehensive models that engage with the temporal, psychosocial, and biological dimensions of this maturational milepost. This integrative overview discusses these theoretical and methodological advances and their implications for research and intervention to promote human development in the context of changing maturational schedules and massive ongoing social transformations.Funding: AA022919-01, HD073033, MH083964-01 (CMW); K01 DA039288 (KM).Author contributions: Worthman deploys a biocultural approach in comparative interdisciplinary research on human development and pathways to differential mental and physical health. She has conducted comparative biosocial research in thirteen countries, as well as in rural, urban, and semi-urban areas of the United States. Dockray's research focuses on psychobiological mechanisms to understand how experiences and emotions affect adolescent health and behavior. Her work concentrates on how the experiences of everyday life relate to psychoneuroendocrine processes and health-related behaviors during adolescence. Marceau conducts developmental research incorporating the integrated roles of genetics, prenatal risk, neuroendocrine development, and the family environment to examine the role of biobehavioral developmental pathways and interactions in adolescent behavior problems and substance use across the lifespan.Requests for reprints should be sent to Carol M. Worthman,
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