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Serum Copper Status in School-Age Children and Pregnant Women in China Nutrition and Health Survey 2010–2012

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Abstract

Serum copper is an insensitive but reliable biomarker reflecting the change of copper nutritional status in both depleted and replete populations. The current study aimed to establish the reference values of serum copper in school-age children and pregnant women in China and to explore the adequate range of serum copper for both these two categories of people. A multistage, stratified, random sampling combined with probability proportionate to regional size sampling method was employed. A total of 4019 subjects (2736 school-age children and 1283 pregnant women) were selected from China Nutrition and Health Survey 2010–2012 (CNHS 2010–2012). The concentration of serum copper was determined by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). The adequate range of serum copper was determined by the logistic sigmoid saturation curve of the median derivatives. The median concentration of serum copper was 1140.9 μg/L with a range of 746.7–1677.6 μg/L for school-age children and 1933.4 μg/L with a range of 947.4–3391.4 μg/L for pregnant women. The adequate range of serum copper was 905.7–1440.7 μg/L for school-age children and 1308.8–2537.8 μg/L for pregnant women. These parameters represent an essential prerequisite for the assessment of copper nutritional status, as well as nutrition interventions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to all the subjects who participated in this study and the work teams who joined in the Project of National Nutrition and Health Survey in China 2010–2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition of Ministry of Health, National Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Nanwei Road, West District, Beijing, 100050, China

    Xiaobing Liu, Jianhua Piao, Yu Zhang, Min Li, Weidong Li, Lichen Yang & Xiaoguang Yang

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  1. Xiaobing Liu
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  2. Jianhua Piao
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  3. Yu Zhang
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  4. Min Li
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  5. Weidong Li
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  6. Lichen Yang
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  7. Xiaoguang Yang
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Correspondence to Xiaoguang Yang.

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All the procedures in the present study were approved by the Ethics Committee of the National Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Liu, X., Piao, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Serum Copper Status in School-Age Children and Pregnant Women in China Nutrition and Health Survey 2010–2012. Biol Trace Elem Res 173, 268–274 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0639-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0639-x

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