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Copper deficiency and persistence of the ductus arteriosus
F Alliende Gonzales1, I Villa Elízaga, F Antillón Klüssmann
1Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Developmental Pharmacology and Therapeutics
|January 1, 1991
Abstract:
An experimental model using rats is described, in which a state of copper deficiency was produced in pregnant dams and their offspring. In 100% of the neonates from the copper-deficient group (10/10), 20% (2/10) from the control group, and 40% (4/10) from the pair-fed group, the ductus arteriosus was found to remain patent. These figures were highly significant in statistical terms (X2 test; p less than 0.0009). The possible physiopathology of the persistence of the ductus arteriosus in copper-deficient neonates is discussed.