Metabolic interactions of copper with other trace elements.

Metabolic interactions between copper and other trace elements influence not only the susceptibility of animals and humans to deficiency or toxicity of copper but also the biochemical and pathological consequences of these states. Antagonistic trace elements affect the utilization of copper by reducing its solubility within the intestinal lumen, by competing with copper during its absorption or transport, or by modifying its distribution between receptors in body tissues. The derangement of iron-dependent functions during the development of copper deficiency provides a further example of such interactions which, in this instance, arise from the involvement of copper in processes that apparently regulate the flux of iron between plasma and cellular pools. This paper deals with recent studies of the mechanisms of the interactions between copper and zinc, cadmium molybdenum and iron.