Analysis of the electron spin resonance spectrum of human liver tissue embedded in paraffin.

The ESR spectra of the liver samples embedded in paraffin of newborn, adult, cirrhotic and control individuals always display the g approximately 2.05 signal and occasionally also the g = 4.3 line and the signal of free radicals. In adults, the amplitude of the g approximately 2.05 signal is negatively correlated with that of the g approximately 4.3 signal; in infants aged from three months to one year this correlation is positive. The copper content of the liver is in linear correlation with the amplitude of the g approximately 2.05 signal. The hyperfine structure of the part of the g approximately 2.05 signal recorded at low magnetic field may be of three types: it may correspond to Cu2+ centers of axial symmetry of type I, II or I + II. The parameters of the signal are the following: type I center, g = 2.35 +/- 0.05, g = 2.05 +/- 0.01, A < 100 gauss; type II center, g = 2.25 +/- 0.03, g = 2.05 +/- 0.01, A = 160 +/- 20 gauss. On the basis of the amplitude of the g approximately 2.05 signal, the copper content of the liver tissue can be estimated from paraffin blocks with an error of 30%, without losing the tissue embedded for histological examination.