COPPER AND CERULOPLASMIN CONCENTRATIONS IN THE
BLOOD SERUM OF SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS
LUÍS MARQUES-ASSIS * FRANCISCO BASTOS D E JORGE * *
In spite of the large number of studies made up to now the exact biological meaning of copper is not known.
T h e investigations about this element in neuropsychiatric pathology have been concerned mostly with hepatolenticular degeneration, multiple scle-rosis, epilepsy and schizophrenia. In our previous publications attention w a s focused on copper metabolism alterations in epilepsy 3
> r
\ T h e aim of the present work is to study the behaviour of total copper and cerulo-plasmin in the serum of schizophrenic patients, due do the lack of agreement of the available data on the literature.
M A T E R I A L A N D M E T H O D S
Of a total of 4 5 patients, 39 c a m e from a private clinic and 6 from the Psy-chiatric Clinic of the Medical School of t h e University of São Paulo. Forthy-three patients were m a l e and t w o were females, the a g e v a r y i n g from 1 7 to 4 2 years. The sample included 3 8 white, 6 m u l a t o e s and one japonese descendent patients.
In 3 6 cases, blood samples w e r e secured for total copper determination in the serum; in 2 0 cases, determination of ceruloplasmin were also made. T h e blood w a s collected from patients that had been for a t least three hours in a fasting condition. Completely clean and dry tubes, syringes and needles were used. T h e samples were centrifuged 3 to 4 h o u r after collection, determinations being m a d e on the s a m e day, or the serum, after centrifugation, w a s stored at - 1 0 ° C .
The method used for the copper determinations w a s the one based on the reaction of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate with the cupric ion, in an a m m o n i a c a l m e d i u m containing citrate and pyrophosphate; t h e color of the resulting copper diethildithiocarbamate w a s stabilized w i t h polyvinyl alcohol of grade 5 2 - 2 2, J
. Ceru-loplasmin activity w a s determined by the Houchin m e t h o d1 J
, after correction for the n o r m a l color of the blood serum.
A s shown in previous publications 7 ,8
normal values are 1 0 8 / ¿ g / 1 0 0 m l for copper and 3 3 . 4 m g / 1 0 0 m l for ceruloplasmin.
The results presented here w e r e subjected to conventional statistical analysis.
D I S C U S S I O N
T h e available conclusions from previous work are not meaningful on
what relates to copper and ceruloplasmin in schizophrenia. Plum and
H a n s e n ' s2 0
revision call attention to the lack of agreement of previous
observations, since while some authors found normal levels of copper and/or
ceruloplasmin in the blood serum of schizophrenic patients 4 >1 0
-1 2 .1 5
> 1 T >1 8
,
others found increased values 1 <2
- 5 >1 1
• 1 3 >1 9
- 2 0 -2 1
. Leach et a l .1 6
and Abood
et a l .1
admit the action of ceruloplasmin on the metabolism of adrenaline,
serotonine and histamine and they attach a high value on the serie levels
of this enzyme for the understanding of metabolic disorders in
schizophre-nia. This hypotesis is not confirmed by the data obtained in the present
investigation, since the level of ceruloplasmin does not show significant
deviations in the patients under study.
It is possible that the direct reacting copper may be responsible by
the increase of total copper in the blood serum, but the authors would
like to point out that the slightly amounts of copper in schizophrenic
patients m a y have not a diagnostic value.
S U M M A R Y A N D C O N C L U S I O N S
w i t h s c h i z o p h r e n i a ; 2 ) t h e v a r i a t i o n s o f c e r u l o p l a s m i n a r e n o t s i g n i f i c a n t .
T h e s l i g h t l y a m o u n t s o f c o p p e r in s c h i z o p h r e n i a m a y h a v e n o t a d i a g n o s t i c v a l u e .
R E S U M O E C O N L U S Υ E S
Concentrações do cobre e da ceruloplasmina no plasma de
pacientes com esquizofrenia
É e s t u d a d o o c o m p o r t a m e n t o d o c o b r e t o t a l d o s o r o ( 2 6 c a s o s ) e d a c e r u l o p l a s m i n a ( 2 0 c a s o s ) e m 45 p a c i e n t e s p o r t a d o r e s d e e s q u i z o f r e n i a . A a n á l i s e e s t a t í s t i c a d o s r e s u l t a d o s p e r m i t i u a o s a u t o r e s c h e g a r e m à s s e g u i n -t e s c o n c l u s õ e s : 1 ) o c o b r e -t o -t a l d o s ô r o e s -t á a u m e n -t a d o n o s p a c i e n -t e s
e s q u i z o f r ê n i c o s ; 2 ) o s n í v e i s d e c e r u l o p l a s m i n a n ã o v a r i a r a m d e m a n e i r a s i g n i f i c a t i v a . O s a u t o r e s j u l g a m q u e o s a c h a d o s p o d e m n ã o t e r v a l o r d i a g n ó s t i c o .
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