Accumulation copper

Serra A, Guasch H, Corcoll N (2009) Copper accumulation and toxicity in fluvial periphyton the influence of exposure history. Chemosphere 74 633... 

Wilson s disease is another autosomal recessive disease leading to cirrhosis. Protein abnormalities result in excessive copper deposition in body tissues. The faulty protein is responsible for facilitating copper excretion in the bile, so copper accumulates in hepatic tissue. High copper levels within hepatocytes are toxic, and fibrosis and cirrhosis may develop in untreated patients. Those with Wilson s disease usually present with symptoms of liver or neurologic disease while still in their teens. 

Copper is associated with two important life-threatening diseases in man, the pathologies of both being due to defective intracellular copper transport. Menke s disease is characterized by progressive cerebral degeneration, essentially due to insufficient copper absorption, and Wilson s disease is due to excessive copper accumulation in liver, accompanied by liver disease and haemolytic crises. 

In mammals, as in yeast, several different metallothionein isoforms are known, each with a particular tissue distribution (Vasak and Hasler, 2000). Their synthesis is regulated at the level of transcription not only by copper (as well as the other divalent metal ions cadmium, mercury and zinc) but also by hormones, notably steroid hormones, that affect cellular differentiation. Intracellular copper accumulates in metallothionein in copper overload diseases, such as Wilson s disease, forming two distinct molecular forms one with 12 Cu(I) equivalents bound, in which all 20 thiolate ligands of the protein participate in metal binding the other with eight Cu(I)/ metallothionein a molecules, with between 12-14 cysteines involved in Cu(I) coordination (Pountney et ah, 1994). Although the role of specific metallothionein isoforms in zinc homeostasis and apoptosis is established, its primary function in copper metabolism remains enigmatic (Vasak and Hasler, 2000). 

Pietrzak, U. and McPhail, D.C. (2004). Copper accumulation, distribution and fractionation in vineyard soils of Victoria, Australia , Geoderma, 122(2 1), 151-166. 

Parkinson s disease (PD) is a hypokinetic movement disorder 766 Huntington s disease is a hyperkinetic movement disorder 771 Wilson s disease is a disease of copper accumulation 773 Dystonia is characterized by sustained muscle contractions 775 Many drugs and toxins induce movement disorders 776... 

In terrestrial vegetation, copper is usually less than 35 mg/kg DW except near smelters, where it may approach 700 mg/kg DW, and in copper-accumulator plants that may normally contain as much as 13,700 mg/kg DW (Table 3.3). In aquatic vegetation, copper is elevated in metals-con-taminated water bodies, reaching concentrations as high as 1350 mg/kg DW in eelgrass (Zostera spp.) from contaminated bays vs. 36 mg/kg DW in conspecifics from reference sites (Table 3.3). 

Diet is the most important route of copper accumulation in aquatic animals, and food choice influences body loadings of copper. For example, whole-body copper concentrations in aquatic insects from copper-contaminated rivers are highest in detritovores (as high as 102 mg/kg DW), followed by predators (54 mg/kg DW) and omnivores (43 mg/kg DW Cain et al. 1992). Little or no biomagnification of copper is evident in freshwater food chains (Stokes 1979). 

No data are available on copper toxicity to avian wildlife. Experiments with domestic poultry show that copper accumulates in livers of mallard ducklings at dietary concentrations as low as 15 mg/kg DW ration that gizzard histopathology and a reduction in weight gain of chicks (Gallus sp.) occur at 250 to 350 mg Cu/kg DW ration and that growth of turkey poults is improved at... 

Soldier crabs (Mictyris longicarpus) accumulate copper mostly from sediments rather than the water column (Weimin et al. 1994). The fine particles of sediment trapped as food contain bio-available fractions of copper and other metals, and these significantly correlate with metal concentrations in the body of the crab. However, copper accumulations from sediments by soldier crabs... 

In rodents, copper administered by single intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection is lethal at 3 to 7 mg Cu/kg BW (Table 3.7). Mice died when their drinking water contained 640 mg Cu/L (Table 3.7). In rats, copper accumulation in kidneys and lungs is similar regardless of route of administration (Romeu-Moreno et al. 1994). Concentrations of copper in serum of rats (Rattus sp.) reflect dietary copper concentrations in liver and kidney are directly related to serum Cu and ceruloplasmin (Petering et al. 1977). As serum Cu concentrations rise in rats, levels fall for serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids (Petering et al. 1977). 

Fed diets containing <150 mg/kg ration for 9 months No copper accumulations over controls in liver (16-48 mg/kg DW) or kidney (20-49 mg/kg DW) growth promoting effects 26... 

Eisler, R. 1979. Copper accumulations in coastal and marine biota. Pages 383-449 in J.O. Nriagu (ed.). Copper in the Environment. Part 1 Ecological Cycling. John Wiley, NY. 

Playle, R.C., R.W. Gensemer, and D.G. Nelson. 1992. Copper accumulation on gills of fathead minnows influence of water hardness, complexation and pH of the gill micro-environment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 11 381-391. 

Sugawara, N. and C. Sugawara. 1994. A copper deficient diet prevents copper accumulation and dysfunction in Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats with an abnormal copper metabolism and hereditary hepatitis. Arch. Toxicol. 69 137-140. 

Zinc added to the ambient water depressed copper accumulations in tissues of juvenile catfish (Clarias lazera), but copper added to the medium depressed zinc uptake (Hilmy et al. 1987b). A similar situation was reported in barnacles (Elminus modestas) however, simultaneous exposure to copper and zinc resulted in enhanced uptake of both metals (Elliott et al. 1985). 

Pharmacology Wilson disease (hepatolenticular degeneration) is an inherited metabolic defect resulting in excess copper accumulation, possibly because the liver lacks the mechanism to excrete free copper into the bile. Hepatocytes store excess copper, but when their capacity is exceeded, copper is released into the blood and is taken up into extrahepatic sites. Treat this condition with a low copper diet and chelating agents that bind copper to facilitate its excretion from the body. Trientine is a chelating compound for removal of excess copper from the body. 

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