Serum trace elements in animal models and human depression. Part II. Copper

✍ Scribed by Małgorzata Schlegel-Zawadzka; Andrzej Zięba; Dominika Dudek; Mirosław Krośniak; Maria Szymaczek; Gabriel Nowak

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 86 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199910)14:7<447::aid-hup106>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

In the present study we report the results of investigations into the serum copper levels in a clinical study of 19 patients with unipolar depression; 16 normal controls and three animal models of depression: chronic severe stress (CSS), chronic mild stress (CMS) and olfactory bulbectomy (OB) in rats. Unipolar depressed patients exhibit signi®cantly higher serum copper levels than the appropriate controls (depression 1 . 15+0 . 17 mg/l; control 0 . 95+0 . 09 mg/l). There was no alteration in that value in rat models of depression. The data indicate that the increased serum copper level in the depressed patients might potentially be a marker of that illness. Moreover, animal models of human depression do not show changes in this marker.