Considerations of copper metabolism in osteochondrosis of suckling foals.

Of 8 Thoroughbred foals in which osteochondrosis developed before weaning, 7 had serum copper and ceruloplasmin concentrations below normal. Three foals on one farm had serum zinc content high enough to suggest zinc toxicosis, and the liver of each foal contained abnormally high content of zinc. Four foals from the second farm had extremely low serum copper content, but normal serum zinc content. Evidence of environmental exposure to excess zinc was not found on either farm. The lesions in the zones of endochondral ossification of the afflicted foals were similar in many respects to those found in other species of animals with molybdenum-induced copper deficiency and with inhibition of the function of copper-dependent lysyl oxidase by beta-aminopropionitrile, a toxic component of Lathyrus odoratus known to cause osteolathyrism.