How reliable and robust are current biomarkers for copper status?

Area of Science:

• Nutritional biochemistry
• Biomarker discovery
• Human health and nutrition

Background:

• Copper (Cu) is essential but toxic in excess, impacting sensitive populations like children, the elderly, and pregnant women.
• Current methods, including plasma Cu and cuproenzymes, inadequately reflect Cu status, failing to detect marginal or excess levels.
• Existing markers like ceruloplasmin only indicate severe deficiency and do not respond to Cu excess.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the critical need for sensitive biomarkers of copper status.
• To review existing potential biomarkers for copper assessment.
• To discuss methodologies for identifying novel, comprehensive biomarker suites for copper.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on copper biomarkers.
• Discussion of limitations of existing diagnostic tools for copper exposure.
• Exploration of high-throughput proteomic technologies for biomarker screening.

Main Results:

• Existing biomarkers are insufficient for accurately assessing marginal copper deficiency or excess.
• High-throughput screening offers potential for identifying novel biomarkers.
• A combination of proteins may be required to accurately reflect overall copper status.

Conclusions:

• Sensitive and responsive biomarkers for copper status are urgently needed for population monitoring.
• Novel biomarkers will aid in preventing chronic health issues linked to copper imbalance.
• Future research should focus on developing and validating new biomarker suites using advanced technologies.