Table 3

Effect of dietary Zn and Cu on plasma Cu concentration and Cp activity of rats

Animals

Plasma Cu Concentration^1,2

Cp Activity^3,4

Zn-30

Zn-60

Zn-120

Zn-240

Cu-D

Zn-30

Zn-60

Zn-120

Zn-240

Cu-D

No. of non-responders

12

10

5

9

0

11

10

5

9

0

No. of responders⁵

0^a

2^ab

7^b

3^ab

12^c

1^a

2^ab

7^b

3^ab

12^c

Total

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

¹ Non-responders had a range of 667.6 – 1291.6 μg/L.

² Responders (range <0.1 – 572.4 μg/L) were those animals having plasma Cu concentration lower than 2SD below the mean plasma copper concentration of animals in the Zn-30 diet group (Zn-30; mean ± SD = 975.0 ± 159.4 μg/L).

³ Non-responders had a range of 65.3 – 152.8 U/L.

⁴ Responders (range <0.1 – 57.8 U/L) were those animals having Cp activity lower than 2SD below the mean Cp activity of animals in the Zn-30 diet group (Zn-30; mean ± SD = 106.5 ± 23.9).

⁵ No. of responders were compared using the Fisher exact test. For each diet group, No. of responders without a common letter differ, P < 0.05.

Iskandar et al. Nutrition Journal 2005 4:35   doi:10.1186/1475-2891-4-35