American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 27, 108-111, Copyright © 1974 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Some aspects of copper metabolism in pellagra

¹ Research Officer, National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad-500007, India

Some aspects of copper metabolism were studied in 18 endemic pellagrins. The effect of administration of l-leucine on copper metabolism was also studied in 14 adult male volunteers. The results indicated that in pellagrins serum copper was significantly high (166.6 ± 7.95 µg/100 ml) and attained the normal values of 103.9 ± 5.95 µg/100 ml after treatment. The activity of ceruloplasmin was, however, not altered. In addition we noted that in pellagrins, hair copper and urinary copper were significantly high. When leucine was administered to healthy subjects, it brought about changes similar to those observed in pellagrins. The results also suggested that leucine enhances the absorption of dietary copper in normal subjects.