Identification of copper- and zinc-binding ligands in human and bovine milk

The object of this study was to identify copper and zinc ligands detected during modified gel chromatography ( MGC ) of bovine and human milk ultrafiltrates. Isolation by anion-exchange chromatography and subsequent proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analysis demonstrated that the sole major low-molecular-weight ligand binding copper and zinc in bovine milk is citrate. Human milk apparently also contains citrate as a major metal-binding ligand but also contains amino acids, of which primarily glutamate was purified by anion-exchange chromatography. The amino acids bind copper well but are weak zinc-binding ligands. An artifactual MGC peak was seen in the milks, which was shown to be caused by the calcium present in the milk samples. No major differences in zinc-binding capacity were demonstrated between the low-molecular-weight fractions of the two milks. Although citrate may play a role in zinc uptake, it is apparently not the difference between the milks crucial to the acrodermatitis enteropathica individual. The difference in zinc availability between the milks may lie in some other aspect such as binding by proteins, which were noted to bind metal during MGC of nonultrafiltered milks.