'Wilson's disease, a rare heritable disorder of copper metabolism, has been the subject of considerable investigation in recent years, and a number of interesting clinical and biochemical facts (1-4) have become known. However, the exact -pathogenesis and perhaps even the fundamental metabolic defect involved remain to be elucidated. The inheritance pattern is that of a rare recessive autosomal...

Aim of the study: to analyze the oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin (Cp) along with copper concentrations, in the blood of different stage obstructive sleep apnea (osa) patients. Material and methods: sixty normoglycemic males aged 35-65 without any acute or chronic disease were included into the study. eMBla s4000 system was used to establish the apnea/hypopnea index (aHi) and to divide patient...

The efficiency of screening for Wilson's disease by serum caeruloplasmin determination was assessed by analysing the epidemiologic data of 289 affected families in Japan. The estimated gene frequency was 5.2 x 10(-3). The sensitivity of the screening test was 93% at a proposed cut-off level of 120 mg/l and the specificity was 99.83%. In Japan 1 500 000 children are born every year of whom 50 wo...

The specific and non-specific tear proteins have been analysed by means of the ELISA technique to establish the normal and age-related values. There is a linear and related decline of lysozyme and lactoferrin with age, and a similar but unrelated reduction in tear volume. IgA levels gradually decline, while caeruloplasmin and IgG both increase after the fifth decade. The results suggest that te...

1. The extracellular proteins caeruloplasmin and transferrin have important antioxidant properties by virtue of the fact that they inhibit iron-dependent free radical production, and ensuing damage to cells. 2. Albumin is a plasma protein which can loosely bind iron, but the redox activity of this iron has not been fully investigated. 3. The ability of albumin to bind iron and to prevent iron-d...