The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

A variety of bioindicators were used to establish the RDA for copper, including plasma copper concentration, serum ceruloplasmin activity, superoxide dismutase activity in red blood cells, and platelet copper concentration (24). However, whether these are accurate and sensitive biomarkers of copper nutritional status uncertain (40). Also, estimates of copper concentrations in various foods and water sources may not be accurate and reliable (40, 62). The RDA for copper reflects the results of depletion-repletion studies and is based on the prevention of deficiency (Table 1). For infants up to one year of age, an adequate intake (AI) was established due to the lack of experimental evidence to set a requirement.

Disease Prevention

Cardiovascular disease

Severe copper deficiency results in cardiomyopathy in some animal species (79); however, this pathology differs from the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease that is prevalent in humans (24). Outcomes of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related clinical studies in humans are inconsistent, possibly since the copper status of participants is uncertain given the lack of reliable biomarkers of copper nutritional status. Ionic copper is a pro-oxidant, and it can oxidize low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the test tube. CP can also stimulate LDL oxidation in the laboratory setting (80). As such, some researchers have proposed that excess copper could increase the risk for developing atherosclerosis by promoting the oxidation of LDL in vivo. However, there is scant experimental evidence to support this possibility. Moreover, superoxide dismutase and ceruloplasmin have known antioxidant properties, leading some experts to propose that copper deficiency, rather than copper excess, increases the risk for cardiomyopathy (81, 82). Outcomes of observational and intervention studies relating copper nutritional status to relative risk for CVD are summarized below.

Observational studies

Observational studies have linked elevated serum copper levels to an increased risk for developing CVD. For example, a prospective cohort study examined serum copper levels in more than 4,500 men and women 30 years of age and older in the United States (83). During the subsequent 16 years, 151 participants died from coronary heart disease (CHD). After adjusting for other risk factors, those with serum copper levels in the two highest quartiles had a significantly greater risk of dying from CHD. Case-control studies conducted in Europe also had similar outcomes. For example, a case-cohort study of 2,087 adults in Germany reported an association between higher serum copper concentrations and increased risk of incident CVD, including myocardial infarction and stroke (84). Another study in 60 patients with chronic heart failure or ischemic heart disease reported that serum copper was a predictor of short-term outcomes (85). Higher serum copper was also linked to an increased risk of heart failure in a prospective cohort study of 1,866 middle-aged and older men in Finland (86). Another prospective cohort study in 4,035 middle-aged men in France reported that high serum copper levels were significantly related to a 50% increase in all-cause mortality; however, serum copper was not significantly associated with CVD mortality in this study (87). Serum copper was also elevated in patients with rheumatic heart disease (88). In sum, these studies may indicate that high serum copper reflects elevated body copper content, which increases oxidative stress and accelerates tissue/organ damage and disease development. Importantly, however, most copper in the serum is contained within CP, up to 90% depending upon the species, with the remaining, smaller proportion of serum copper bound to albumin or α2-macroglobulin (89, 90). Serum CP is an acute-phase reactant protein, with levels increasing by up to 50% as a result of trauma or infection and during chronic inflammatory states. Changes in circulating CP are associated with proportional changes in serum copper levels, independent of body copper status. Therefore, elevated serum copper in CHD patients may simply reflect increased CP production due to the inflammation that typifies atherosclerosis. Collectively, these observations raise concerns about linking elevated serum copper to increased tissue copper content and chronic disease development in humans (91).

In contrast to the observational findings discussed above linking high serum copper levels to heart disease, two autopsy studies found copper levels in cardiac muscle were actually lower in patients who died of CHD than in those who died of other causes (92). Additionally, the copper content of white blood cells has been positively correlated with the degree of patency of coronary arteries in CHD patients (93, 94). Further, patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) had lower concentrations of copper-dependent, extracellular superoxide dismutase than those without a history of MI (95). Thus, due to the lack of specific, reliable biomarkers of copper nutritional status, it is not clear whether copper is related to cardiovascular disease. It is also important to note that altered copper metabolism may be symptomatic of a cardiovascular condition, rather than a factor that primarily influences its development.

Studies examining dietary intake of copper are scarce. In a prospective cohort study in Japan, which included 58,646 participants followed for a median of 19 years, dietary copper intake - measured by a food frequency questionnaire - was not associated with CHD mortality (96). Yet, this study associated higher copper intakes with an increased risk of mortality from stroke and other cardiovascular diseases (96).

Notably, it was suggested that elevated plasma copper concentrations could be linked to high circulating homocysteine levels in individuals with cardiovascular disease (97-99). Increased blood homocysteine may precipitate development of arterial wall lesions and increase risk of CVD (100); however, this matter is currently open to debate (101). In animal models, copper-homocysteine interactions were linked to impaired vascular endothelial function (102, 103). Copper restriction in experimental animals decreased homocysteine levels and reduced incidence of atherogenic lesions (104, 105), but it is not known whether copper imbalance contributes to a possible atherogenic effect of homocysteine in humans (106).