Transportation of copper in rabbit blood.

Copper sulfate was given to male rabbits intraperitoneally and the copper concentrations in the plasma, red cells and EtOH-CHCl3 treated fraction of the cells were determined. The concentration of copper in the plasma increased markedly and in the red cells increased slightly after administration of 1 mg copper/kg of body weight, while the copper level in the EtOH-CHCl3 treated fraction remained constant. In this experiment, the ceruloplasmin activity in the plasma increased, while the superoxide dismutase activity in the red cells remained unchanged. The form of the copper present in the plasma was also examined by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-150 column. Most of the copper absorbed in the plasma appeared at first in the albumin fractions and was then incorporated into ceruloplasmin fractions.