Scientific meeting held in Vina del Mar, Chile, in September 2007. Preface.

摘要

This supplement on copper biomarkers is the product of a scientific meeting held in Vina del Mar, Chile, in September 2007. The articles here provide a select update to the 1998 publication in this Journal addressing genetic and environmental determinants of copper metabolism.The individual articles partially overlap and therefore provide a comprehensive treatise of our current knowledge of copper metabolism, with special emphasis on elevated copper intakes. Beginning with genomics approaches, the reader will be provided insights about the homeostatic regulation of copper metabolism and its potential limitations. On the basis of the best available scientific evidence, we examine key indicators of copper homeostasis that serve as potential biomarkers for deficit and excess. The basis for a good biomarker is its ability to predict a given outcome, in this case, adverse consequences from deficit or excess. In doing so, we examined the basic molecular and cellular underpinnings of copper metabolism as well as the public health relevance of copper exposure. We have learned from bioinfor-matics the multiple dimensions and interrelations of putative copper proteins that could serve as biomarkers; in response to deficiency, the traditional biomarkers serve well to characterize the homeostatic response. However, the functional dimensions of various levels of copper exposure remain to be defined, especially as they relate to chronic disease and functional losses during aging.