Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (CNR), Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Isola Tiberina, 00186 Rome, Italy.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2010 Apr;121(4):502-7. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2009.11.090. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Much research on copper-dependent neurodegeneration has focused on the study of total copper levels in the organism. However, recent evidence suggests that the portion of copper that does not bind to ceruloplasmin and is loosely transported by micronutrients (free copper) may play a more significant role than copper as a whole. In this paper, we measured markers of copper metabolism in the sera of a group of cognitively normal women to test whether abnormal amounts of free copper have detectable effects on the mental state of clinically normal people.
We measured serum levels of free and ceruloplasmin-bound copper in 64 women whose normal mental state had been assessed via a battery of neuropsychological tests representing the major cognitive domains.
Results show a significant inverse correlation of the serum levels of free copper with both Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and attention-related neuropsychological tests scores. Bound copper, instead, did not correlate with either MMSE scores or any cognitive domain.
Free copper appears to be a player in cognitive decline.
This evidence suggests the need for a shift of focus from total to free copper levels in the study of mental decline and sustains the notion that free copper may be a risk factor in the development of impaired cognition.
许多关于铜依赖性神经退行性疾病的研究都集中在研究机体中总铜水平上。然而，最近的证据表明，与铜蓝蛋白结合的那部分铜（游离铜）和通过微量营养素松散运输的铜（游离铜）可能比铜整体发挥更重要的作用。在本文中，我们测量了一组认知正常女性血清中的铜代谢标志物，以测试异常数量的游离铜是否会对临床正常人群的精神状态产生可检测的影响。
我们测量了 64 名女性血清中的游离铜和铜蓝蛋白结合铜水平，这些女性的正常精神状态通过一系列代表主要认知领域的神经心理学测试进行了评估。
结果表明，血清游离铜水平与简易精神状态检查（MMSE）和与注意力相关的神经心理学测试分数呈显著负相关。相比之下，结合铜与 MMSE 评分或任何认知域均无相关性。
游离铜似乎是认知能力下降的一个因素。
这一证据表明，在研究精神衰退时，需要将研究重点从总铜水平转移到游离铜水平，并且支持游离铜可能是认知障碍发展的一个风险因素的观点。
