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12.9B: Copper Deficiency and Toxicity

  • Page ID
    1578
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    Copper deficiency is rare in humans, but results in the following symptoms1,2:

    Hypochromic anemia

    Decreased white blood cell counts leading to decreased immune function

    Bone abnormalities

    Copper deficiency can result in a secondary iron deficiency, since Fe2+ cannot be oxidized to Fe3+ to bind to transferrin. This can cause the hypochromic anemia that occurs in iron deficiency.

    Menke's disease is a genetic disorder that results in copper deficiency. It is believed that individuals with this disease have a mutation in ATP7A that prevents copper from leaving the enterocyte, thus preventing absorption1.

    Copper toxicity is also rare in humans, but acute toxicity results in the following symptoms1,2:

    Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain

    Chronic symptoms include1,2:

    Brain, liver, and kidney damage

    Neurological damage

    Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder where a mutation in ATP7B prevents copper excretion, resulting in copper toxicity. One notable symptom is that individuals with this disease have golden to greenish-brown Kayser-Fleischer rings around the edges of the cornea, as shown in the link below1,2.

    Web Link

    Kayser-Fleischer ring

    References & Links

    1. Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. (2008) Advanced nutrition and human metabolism. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

    2. Byrd-Bredbenner C, Moe G, Beshgetoor D, Berning J. (2009) Wardlaw's perspectives in nutrition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.


    This page titled 12.9B: Copper Deficiency and Toxicity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Brian Lindshield via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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