title: Excess of nonceruloplasmin serum copper in AD correlates with MMSE, CSF [beta]-amyloid, and h-tau.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: AFaR Department of Neuroscience, Hospital Fatebenefratelli, Rome, Italy. rosanna.squitti@afar.it
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Squitti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbati
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ventriglia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dal Forno
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cesaretti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moffa
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Caridi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cassetta
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pasqualetti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lupoi
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rossini
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016875:tau Proteins; D003300:Copper; D002570:Ceruloplasmin