Main description:

In 1928, it was discovered that copper was essential for normal human metabolism. A decade later, in 1938, it was observed that patients with rheu matoid arthritis exhibited a higher than normal serum copper concentration that returned to normal with remission of this disease. Thirteen years later, it was found that copper complexes were effective in treating arthritic dis eases. The first report that copper complexes had antiinflammatory activity in an animal model of inflammation appeared twenty-two years after the dis covery of essentiality. In 1976, it was suggested that the active forms of the antiarthritic drugs are their copper complexes formed in vivo. This sugges tion has been confirmed and extended in the interim in over 200 recent publications. Individual biomedical scientists from many countries who have published in these areas recently saw a need for a meeting to exchange current re supporting new hypotheses. We search results and discuss the evidence met on the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences campus in Little Rock, Arkansas, August 10-13, 1981. Participants came from Australia, England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales, Zimbabwe, and over twenty of the United States.

Contents:

Physiological Aspects of Copper Metabolism.- Copper Homeostasis.- Estrogen Modulation of Blood Copper and Other Essential Metal Concentrations.- The Role of Leukocyte Endogeneous Mediator (Endogenous Pyrogen) in Inflammation.- Computer Analysis of Low Molecular Weight Copper Complexes in Biofluids.- Ceruloplasmin: Experimental Antiinflammatory Activity and Physicochemical Properties.- Physiological Aspects of Copper Metabolism.- Wilson's Disease.- Copper Metabolism in Menkes' Syndrome and in Mottled Mouse Mutants.- Intestinal Content of the Copper-Binding Protein in Brindled, Blotchy and Crinkled Mice and Cellular Copper Transport.- Teratogenic Effects of Copper Deficiency and Excess.- An Appraisal of Current Human Copper Nutriture.- Environmental Metal Ion Perturbations, Especially as They Affect Copper Status, Are a Factor in the Etiology of Arthritic Conditions: An Hypothesis.- Biochemical Aspects of Copper Metabolism.- Hormonal Regulation of Copper and Zinc Metabolism in Isolated Rat Liver Parenchymal Cells.- Ceruloplasmin: A Multi-Functional Cupro-Protein of Vertebrate Plasma.- Comparison of the Catalytic Activities of Mammalian Ceruloplasmins.- Lysyl Oxidase, A Molecular Target of Copper.- Cu-Zn Superoxide Dismutase.- The Carboxylation of Preprothrombin.- Biological Aspects of Copper Metabolism in Inflammation.- The Effect of Ceruloplasmin and Iron on the L-Ascorbic Acid-Induced Depolymerization of Hyaluronic Acid.- Copper, Free Radicals, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.- Hepatic Adaptation Process During Inflammatory Conditions: Role of Trace Elements, Lipid Peroxidation, and Ceruloplasmin.- Roles of Superoxide in Inflammation and Ischemic Shock.- The Metabolism of Gold: Possible Mechanisms for Perturbations of Copper and Zinc Homeostasis.- Antiinflammatory Activities of Copper Complexes.- Copper Complexes as the Active Metabolites of the Antiinflammatory Agents.- Comparison of the Antiinflammatory Activities of Copper Complexes in Different Models of the Inflammation.- The Copper Problem and Amino Acids.- Copper and Inflammation.- Antiinflammatory Properties of Implanted Copper.- Antiulcer, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Activities of Copper Complexes.- The Antiulcer Activities of Copper Complexes.- Development and Therapeutic Actions of Oral Copper Complexes of Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.- Antimycoplasmal Approach to the Mechanism and the Control of Rheumatoid Disease.- The Antimycoplasmal Activity of Copper Bipyridyl Complexes.- Antitumor Activities of Compounds with Superoxide Dismutase Activity.- Therapy of Rheumatic Diseases.- Copper-Salicylate in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Similar Degenerative Diseases.- Therapy of Inflammatory Diseases with Superoxide Dismutase.- The Results of a Copper Bracelet Clinical Trial and Subsequent Studies.- Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis with Zinc Sulfate.- Immunomodulation Imposed by Chronic Treatment with D-Penicillamine and Zinc in the Mouse.- Possible Mechanisms of Action.- Reactivity of Chelated Copper with Superoxide.- Molecular Mechanism of Zinc Action, and a Note on the Treatment of SLE in the Mouse with Zinc.- Stabilization of Gamma Globulin with Copper Complexes: Possible Relevance to the Etiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis.- In Vitro Studies of Anti-Inflammatory Copper Complexes: Some Difficulties in Their Chemical Interpretation.- Mechanisms of Action of Metal Ions on Hepatocytes.- Modulation of Lymphocyte Function by Copper and Thiols.- Poster Presentations.- Immunological Consequences of Copper Deficiency in Mice.- Selenium in Rheumatoid Arthrtis and Liver Cirrhosis.- Influence of Oral Zinc Intake on Whole Blood and Plasma Levels of Copper.- The Influence of Pancreatic Secretions on Copper Metabolism.- Effect of Dietary Copper on Adjuvant Arthritis in the Rat.- The Influence of Thiols on Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Erythrocytes.- Leucocyte Superoxide Dismutase in Rheumatoid Arthritis.