A Physiological Basis for Pharmacological Activities of Copper Complexes: An Hypothesis

Abstract

Copper is recognized as an essential metalloelement like sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, chromium, vanadium, and manganese¹. Like essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and essential cofactors (vitamins), essential metalloelements are required for normal metabolic processes but can not be synthesized in vivo and daily dietary intake and absorption are required. The adult body contains between 1.4 and 2.1 mg of copper per kilogram of body weight. The infant body contains 3 times this amount which is consistent with the fact that their metabolic needs are that much greater than adults. All tissues of the body need copper for normal metabolism but some tissues have greater metabolic needs than others and tissue contents of copper reflect this fact. Amounts of copper found in various body tissues and fluids of individuals are shown in Table I^2,3.