Gender Effects on Plasma and Brain Copper
The effect of gender on systemic and brain levels of copper is relatively understudied. We examined gender effects in mice and human subjects. We observed a trend to higher serum copper levels in female compared to male LaFerla “triple transgenic” (1399±233versus804±436 ng/mL,P=0.06) mice, and significantly higher brain copper levels in female- versus male wild-type mice (5.2±0.2versus4.18±0.3 ng/mg wet wt,P=0.03). Plasma copper was significantly correlated with brain copper in mice (R2 = 0.218;P=0.038). Among human subjects with AD, both plasma copper (1284±118versus853±81 ng/mL,P=0.005) and cerebrospinal fluid copper (12.8±1versus10.4±0.7 ng/mL,P=0.01) were elevated in women compared to men. Among healthy control subjects, plasma copper (1008±51versus836±41 ng/mL;P=0.01) was higher in women than in men, but there was no difference in cerebrospinal fluid copper. We conclude that gender differences in copper status may influence copper-mediated pathological events in the brain.