Excess of nonceruloplasmin serum copper in AD correlates with MMSE, CSF [beta]-amyloid, and h-tau.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether serum copper in Alzheimer disease (AD) correlates with cognitive scores, beta-amyloid, and other CSF markers of neurodegeneration.


METHODS
The authors studied copper, ceruloplasmin, total peroxide, and antioxidants levels (TRAP) in serum; beta-amyloid in plasma; and copper, beta-amyloid, h-tau, and P-tau in the CSF of 28 patients with AD and 25 healthy controls, in relation to clinical status.


RESULTS
Serum copper (p < 0.0001), peroxides (p = 0.002), a copper fraction unexplained by ceruloplasmin (p < 0.0001), and CSF h-tau (p = 0.001) were increased in AD, whereas serum TRAP (p = 0.03) and CSF beta-amyloid were decreased (p < 0.0001). Plasma beta-amyloid increased with age in healthy controls (r = 0.6; p = 0.05). CSF markers of AD correlated with serum copper variables. CSF copper was partially dependent on the serum copper fraction unexplained by ceruloplasmin (t = 2.2, p = 0.04). CSF beta-amyloid seemed to be related to serum copper (r = -0.46; p = 0.002). Mini-Mental Status Examination scores correlated positively with beta-amyloid (r = 0.46, p = 0.002) and inversely with copper unexplained by ceruloplasmin (r = -0.45, p = 0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
The authors' results confirm the existence of changes in copper component distribution, particularly the copper fraction unexplained by ceruloplasmin and support the hypothesis of a beta-amyloid and copper connection in Alzheimer disease.
Squitti
R
R
AFaR Department of Neuroscience, Hospital Fatebenefratelli, Rome, Italy. rosanna.squitti@afar.it
Barbati
G
G
Rossi
L
L
Ventriglia
M
M
Dal Forno
G
G
Cesaretti
S
S
Moffa
F
F
Caridi
I
I
Cassetta
E
E
Pasqualetti
P
P
Calabrese
L
L
Lupoi
D
D
Rossini
P M
PM
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002570:Ceruloplasmin; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016875:tau Proteins; D003300:Copper; D002570:Ceruloplasmin