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Ceruloplasmin metabolism and function.

Abstract

Ceruloplasmin is a serum ferroxidase that contains greater than 95% of the copper found in plasma. This protein is a member of the multicopper oxidase family, an evolutionarily conserved group of proteins that utilize copper to couple substrate oxidation with the four-electron reduction of oxygen to water. Despite the need for copper in ceruloplasmin function, this protein plays no essential role in the transport or metabolism of this metal. Aceruloplasminemia is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from inherited loss-of-function mutations in the ceruloplasmin gene. Characterization of this disorder revealed a critical physiological role for ceruloplasmin in determining the rate of iron efflux from cells with mobilizable iron stores and has provided new insights into human iron metabolism and nutrition.

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BibTeXRIS

Nathan E Hellman, Jonathan D Gitlin. 2002-04-04. Ceruloplasmin metabolism and function.. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.nutr.22.012502.114457

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Adjusting copper concentrations for caeruloplasmin levels in routine clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: An investigation on copper metabolism usually includes the measurement of serum levels of copper and caeruloplasmin. Using these levels, some laboratories derive levels of non-caeruloplasmin-bound copper (NCC); however, a considerable number of patients may show negative values, which is not physiologically possible. AIM: To derive an equation for adjusted copper in a manner similar to that widely accepted for adjusted calcium. METHODS: A linear regression equation for the relationship between caeruloplasmin and copper was used: [copper] (micromol/l) = 0.052x[caeruloplasmin] (mg/l). An equation for copper adjusted for caeruloplasmin was derived using this equation and the reference interval of 10-25 micromol/l for copper. RESULTS: The derived equation was [adjusted copper] (micromol/l) = [total copper] (micromol/l)+0.052x[caeruloplasmin] (mg/l)+17.5 (micromol/l). The adjusted copper concentrations on the 2.5th and 97.5th centiles were 12.7 and 21.5 micromol/l, respectively, with the population having a gaussian distribution. The relationship between NCC and the adjusted copper concentrations is linear and independent of caeruloplasmin concentration. CONCLUSION: Calculation of copper adjusted for caeruloplasmin uses the same variables as those for NCC. Accordingly, the problems that are caused by the lack of specificity of caeruloplasmin immunoassays are the same as those identified for NCC. This calculation, however, overcomes the negative values that are found in a considerable minority of patients with NCC, as well as age and sex differences in the caeruloplasmin reference interval. As the concept is already familiar to non-laboratory healthcare professionals in the form of calcium adjusted for albumin, this method is potentially less confusing than that for NCC.

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