Copper

Copper is essential in all higher plants and animals. Copper is found in a variety of enzymes, including the copper centers of cytochrome c oxidase, the Cu-Zn containing enzyme superoxide dismutase, and is the central metal in the oxygen carrying pigment hemocyanin. The blood of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus uses copper rather than iron for oxygen transport.

The RDA for copper in normal healthy adults is 0.9 mg/day.

Copper is carried mostly in the bloodstream on a plasma protein called ceruloplasmin. Though when copper is first absorbed in the gut it is transported to the liver bound to albumin.

An inherited condition called Wilson's disease causes the body to retain copper, since it is not excreted by the liver into the bile. This disease, if untreated, can lead to brain and liver damage.

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