COPPER AND ZINC STATUS IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - STUDIES OF PLASMA, ERYTHROCYTES, AND URINE, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO DISEASE-ACTIVITY MARKERS AND PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT
R. Milanino et al., COPPER AND ZINC STATUS IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - STUDIES OF PLASMA, ERYTHROCYTES, AND URINE, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO DISEASE-ACTIVITY MARKERS AND PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT, Clinical and experimental rheumatology, 11(3), 1993, pp. 271-281
We studied the status of copper and zinc in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The aims of the work were to ascertain whether or not RA is associate
d with copper and/or zinc deficiency, to establish the relationship be
tween these trace metals and the main biohumoral and clinical indices
of the disease, and to examine the effect on copper and zinc of the dr
ugs normally used by RA patients. Metal levels were measured by atomic
absorption spectroscopy in the plasma, whole blood cells and 24 hr ur
ine of 120 RA patients; 70 patients suffering from primary osteoarthri
tis were used as the control group. In the plasma of RA patients coppe
r and ceruloplasmin levels were found to be significantly increased wh
ereas zinc levels were significantly decreased No major variations wer
e observed in the blood cell and 24 hr urine copper and zinc levels. P
lasma copper was significantly correlated with some of the biohumoral
markers of RA, but did not correlate with any of the clinical indices
of the disease. Plasma zinc was significantly correlated with numerous
of the biohumoral as well as clinical markers of RA. With the excepti
on of an increased urinary excretion of copper in D-penicillamine trea
ted RA patients, drug therapy did not influence the copper status in R
A. Conversely, plasma zinc was found to be lower in RA patients taking
NSAIDs and/or steroids. These results suggest the following conclusio
ns: i) RA patients do not seem to be deficient in either copper or zin
c; ii) plasma copper appears to be a poor index of RA severity; iii) p
lasma zinc could have some practical value in defining the overall sev
erity of the disease.