Copper status and urinary and salivary copper in young men at three levels of dietary copper

Article Abstract:

Copper is known to be an essential nutrient, but scientists have not established a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for this mineral. Instead they have set an Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intake range of 2 to 3 milligrams (mg). However, some experts have suggested that this range is too high and lower intakes may be preferable. Surveys have found that the average copper intake in the US is approximately 1 mg/day, yet copper deficiency is rare. A study was conducted to investigate the human copper requirement. Eleven young men were admitted to a metabolic unit where their diet could be carefully controlled; the study lasted 90 days. In this period the subjects progressed from a diet supplying an adequate copper intake to a low-copper diet and then to a high-copper diet. Levels of copper in the saliva, urine and blood were tested to check for signs of copper deficiency. No measure of copper in the body differed according to the diet the subjects were consuming; even on the diet lowest in copper, laboratory tests showed no decrease in copper levels. The authors conclude that the lowest copper intake, 0.79 mg/day, was adequate for normal healthy men for a period of at least 42 days, the length of time the subjects consumed this amount of copper in the diet. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Measurement, Copper, Copper in the body, Copper (Nutrient)

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Dietary iron and recovery from peritonitis in guinea pigs

Article Abstract:

Iron is an essential nutrient for all creatures, ranging in size and complexity from bacteria to humans. This mineral is needed for transport of oxygen to the tissues and synthesis of the genetic materials RNA and DNA, as well as other functions. Since bacteria require iron to live, it has been suggested that withholding iron from them can help cure a bacterial infection. But researchers do not agree about the role of iron in infection. A serious infection of the abdomen is bacterial peritonitis, an infection and inflammation of the tissue which lines the abdominal cavity. In this study, 90 guinea pigs were given peritonitis by infusion of bacteria through a tube into the abdomen. They were then divided into three groups, each of which was fed a different level of iron in a liquid diet. The liquid diets were classified as no iron, low iron, and high iron. Survival of the guinea pigs was not significantly affected by the iron content of the diet. The authors conclude that low blood iron does not reduce the mortality rate in guinea pigs with bacterial peritonitis. These data do not support previous research that found withholding iron reduced the severity of infection and providing iron made infection worse. One study showed that infants given iron supplementation therapy had a higher rate of illness from malaria and other infections.

Care and treatment, Research, Infection, Prevention, Animal nutrition, Peritonitis, Medical bacteriology, Bacteriology, Medical

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