AJP - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol 251, Issue 5 551-E555, Copyright © 1986 by American Physiological Society
Turnover and excretion of copper in rats as measured with 67Cu
M. C. Linder and M. Roboz
We have examined the whole-body turnover and excretion of copper in rats,
using 67Cu. Female Fischer rats, 3-4 mo of age, were injected
intraperitoneally with tracer doses of 67CuCl2, and whole-body
radioactivity was monitored over the next 3-6 days. The rate of loss was
exponential and biphasic, with a half-life of 67 h for the first 70 h,
followed by a much slower rate over the following days. A small percentage
(2-7%) of the early loss was in the urine, the rest in the feces. In
sexually immature animals, turnover was slower in the first and faster in
the second phases. Pretreatment of rats with a large dose of copper had no
significant effect on the initial turnover rate. Ligation of the common
bile duct cut the rate in half, but did not block turnover. It is concluded
that there are at least two pools of copper in the rat that turn over at
different rates and that excretion of copper occurs via the bile and also
by other intestinal routes.
