Copper and zinc status during acute inflammation: studies on blood, liver and kidneys metal levels in normal and inflamed rats

Abstract

The concentrations of copper and zinc in plasma, blood cells, liver and kidneys were determined in a study performed on normal female rats, and in female rats with carrageenan induced pleurisy. In the normal rat, the total amount of both metals increases, from 51 to 79 days of age, in all the compartments examined. This increase was mostly, and in some case exclusively, dependent upon the growth of the animal, although high individual and day to day variations in both copper and zinc values were observed in all the compartments studied. In the blood of inflamed rats a statistically significant increase in copper was measured during the crucial hours of the experiment (i.e. from 6 to 72 h); over 90% of the increase found was attributable to variations in plasma copper concentration values. In the liver of inflamed rats a statistically significant increase in zinc was measured at 6, 22 and 48 h after the carrageenan injection. The induction of the acute non-infective inflammatory process did not cause quantitative changes of both copper and zinc in all the other compartments considered in the present study. These results seem to suggest that, during acute inflammation, the organism increases its requirement for copper and zinc, and that this demand is fulfilled by enhanced intestinal absorption and/or decreased intestinal excretion of both metals.

Acute Phase Response in Naturally Occurring Coliform Mastitis.

“…This response is characterized by a number of physiological changes, including fever, leukocytosis, changes in hematologic levels, changes in plasma metal levels, and changes in the levels of hepatocyte-derived plasma proteins, and acutephase protein (APP) [3,7,13].…”

Nutritional supplementation with copper in the rat. I. Effects on adjuvant arthritis development and on some in vivo- and ex vivo-markers of blood neutrophils

“…A few years ago we proposed that the inflammatory process is a condition which significantly increases the body need for copper [29,32]. We also suggested that the inflamed organism would fulfil this enhanced requirement by raising the intestinal absorption of the metal [29,32].…”

“…The only exception with respect to the past experience [22,23], according to which the supplemented diet did not modify plasma copper concentration at any considered time, is the 18% increase in plasma copper in the supplemented group at day 58. However, the extent of this variation does not appear to be bio- logically relevant, being the value of 1.3 mg/ml of plasma copper to be considered within the normal range [1,2,25,[27][28][29].…”

“…The only exception is represented by the about 33% increase in plasma zinc concentration measured in this study after 30 days of coppersupplemented feeding. Nevertheless, the experience gained through several previous works [27][28][29] suggests that the value of 1.6 mg/ml of plasma zinc should not be considered as biologically abnormal.…”

Effects of acute and chronic prednisolone treatment on serum zinc levels in rats with adjuvant arthritis

“…Modifications in zinc homoeostasis, mainly hypozincemia, were described in localized inflammation [7] and in systemic infections diseases [8,9]. They are apparently associated with an increased hepatic zinc uptake [7,8], which was documented in animals both during the acute carrageenan induced pleurisy of the rat [10] and in adjuvant 1 Author for correspondence.…”