Copper distribution within and between newborn livers
Diaz, G.; Faa, G.; Farci, A.M.; Balestrieri, A.; Liguori, C.; Costa, V.
Journal of Trace Elements and Electrolytes in Health and Disease 4(2): 61-64
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0931-2838 PMID: 2136226 Document Number: 365601
Copper concentration was estimated in different liver samples (blocks, needle biopsy and bile) obtained from 9 newborns and 3 infants at autopsy. Tissue blocks, sampled at 10 equally spaced intervals between the left and the right lobe, revealed in newborns high copper concentrations, ranging from 93 to 335 mg/kg of dry tissue with an upward trend from the right to the left lobe. In infants there was a lower and more evenly distributed Cu content, ranging from 49 to 123 mg/kg of dry tissue, which seemed to be similar to the situation found in adults. Cu concentration was generally high in bile, with an overall range from 99 to 413 mg/kg of dry material. This fact was particularly significant in infants, considering their low hepatic Cu content. Cu content estimated in percutaneous biopts was correlated to (P<0.01), though only moderately predictive of (rsuperscript 2=0.54), the average Cu content calculated from the 10 liver blocks.