Marginal copper deficiency and atherosclerosis

Copper is an essential trace element in the maintenance of the cardiovascul ar system. Copper-deficient diets can elicit, in animals, structural and fu nctional changes that are comparable to those observed in coronary heart di sease. In this study, the effect of dietary induced copper deficiency on ao rtic lesion development was measured by quantitative image analysis in C57B L/6 mice that are susceptible to diet-induced aortic lesions. The diets adm inistered were severely copper deficient (0.2 mg/kg diet), marginally defic ient (0.6 mg/kg diet), or copper adequate (6.0 mg/kg diet). Similarly, incr eased aortic lesion areas and elevated serum cholesterol were demonstrated in both deficient groups, compared with the copper-adequate group. Evidence for graded differences in copper status among the dietary groups was shown by the dose-response increase in liver copper concentration, copper-zinc s uperoxide dismutase and cytochrome-c oxidase activities, together with seru m caeruloplasmin oxidase with increasing intakes of dietary copper. Despite the difference in copper status between the copper marginal and severely d eficient groups, similar lesions found in both groups of mice suggest a thr eshold effect of copper deficiency on lesion formation.