Influence of sex hormones on the subcellular distribution of copper in sheep liver.

At the 14th to 16th week of pregnancy the copper content in the maternal liver was low while that in the fetus was high. After ovariectomy there was a decrease in liver copper and ceruloplasmin which was prevented by treatment with oestrogens but not with progesterone. Five groups of sheep were studied: control (barren ewes), pregnant, ovariectomised and ovariectomised treated with oestrogens or progesterone. In all, with high or low liver copper, the nuclear fraction contained the most copper. This suggests a species specificity of the copper metabolism in sheep.