STUDIES ON COPPER METABOLISM. XIV. COPPER, CERULO-PLASMIN AND OXIDASE ACTIVITY IN SERA OF NORMAL HUMAN SUBJECTS, PREGNANT WOMEN, AND PATIENTS WITH INFECTION, HEPATOLENTICULAR DEGENERATION AND THE NEPHROTIC SYNDROME 1

Abstract

Ceruloplasmin, the blue copper-containing pro- tein of serum, was first isolated in 1948 by Holm- berg and Laurell (1). They characterized this protein as an alpha 2 globulin with a copper con- tent of approximately 0.32 per cent,3 a molecular weight of about 151,000 and 8 atoms of copper per molecule. The substance has been shown to exhibit oxidase activity with a variety of sub- strates. The enzyme is most active with para- phenylene diamine (2, 3).