Copper's previously unknown exit strategy from the body

Scientists have long known that the body rids itself of excess copper and various other minerals by collecting them in the liver and excreting them through the liver's bile. However, a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published June 22 in PLoS One suggests that when this route is impaired there's another exit route just for copper: A molecule sequesters only that mineral and routes it from the body through urine.

The researchers, led by Svetlana Lutsenko, Ph.D., a professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, found this additional copper escape hatch by studying an animal model of Wilson's disease, a rare disorder most often diagnosed in children. People with this disease accumulate abnormally large amounts of copper in the liver, eventually leading to liver damage and failure.

Micronutrients such as copper, zinc and iron are indispensible for human development. Copper is required for embryonic development, respiration, and cardiovascular function, among other processes; too little copper can be fatal whereas too much can cause neurological impairment and organ failure.