Renal copper content and distribution in Wilson's disease

CRISPONI, GUIDO;R. AMBU;M. P. CARIA;M. LISCI;F. CRISTIANI;NURCHI, VALERIA MARINA;R. PINNA

2001-01-01

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Abstract

Induced Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICPAES) was applied to whole organ sections of the kidney of a patient who died of Wilson disease to measure and map the distribution of copper and other elements in this organ. Copper concentration was elevated 70 times over the normal. The distribution of copper was uneven, but it was most concentrated in the inner cortical, outer medullary zone. The distribution of copper paralleled in part that of iron (which was also elevated above the normal), but did not show any correlation with the distribution of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulphur, or zinc. This study shows that ICP-AES can be used for studying the distribution of inorganic elements in slices of organs removed at autopsy.