Factors Influencing Serum Copper and Ceruloplasmin Oxidative Activity in the Rat

¹ From the Biochemical Research Laboratory, Elgin State Hospital, Elgin and the Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

The effect of turpentine, estradiol benzoate and epinephrine hydrochloride on the copper concentration and paraphenylenediamine oxidase activity of serum were studied in the male albino rat. All three of these substances raised the serum copper level and paraphenylenediamine oxidase activity in both ‘control’ and ‘adrenalectomized’ animals, turpentine being the most active. The average serum copper level is approximately the same for normal humans and rats, while the phenylenediamine oxidase activity of normal human serum is about 2–3 times as high as that of rat serum. The data are discussed with relation to the known facts about serum copper in normal subjects and mental patients.