“…Copper is an essential trace element component of metalloenzymes capable of using oxygen or oxygen radicals as substrates by direct interaction with the Cu 2+ site. 32 The deciency of this metal is associated with disorders such as neutropenia and anemia, 33 bone marrow suppression, 34 vascular lesions (Menkes disease), 35 hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson disease) 36 and the inability of the organism to perform important biological processes. 37 However, exposure to high levels of free copper (non-covalently bound copper) has been associated with damage due its oxygen transferring properties, and its capability to act as a catalyst for oxidative damage by the removal of one electron from O 2 that results in the formation of O 2 c À and the subsequent generation of H 2 O 2 , ONOO À and cOH through the Fenton-catalysed Haber-Weiss reaction.…”