Adeona has provided results of a 90 subject prospective, blinded, observational clinical study to evaluate copper and zinc status in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and normal subjects.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate serum markers of copper status, compare these results across the three groups of patients, and confirm the findings of other research groups finding evidence of serum copper dyshomeostasis in AD.
The results showed that AD and normal patients had comparable serum ceruloplasmin levels. The ceruloplasmin of AD patients, however, had significantly lower enzymatic activity and was also associated with a lower copper to ceruloplasmin ratio, indicating less copper bound per unit of ceruloplasmin.
The estimated percentage of serum copper not bound to ceruloplasmin (free serum copper) was elevated by 28.9% in AD patients compared to normals, as did Parkinson’s disease patients compared to normals (26.5% increase in percent free serum copper).
These data find a significant percentage of defective serum ceruloplasmin in AD patients and that such defect is associated with ceruloplasmin lacking bound copper.
The study also found a statistically significant sub-clinical zinc deficiency in AD subjects. AD subjects had 13% lower zinc concentrations as a group, as compared to normals as well as compared to PD subjects.
David Newsome, president of Adeona’s HeathMine subsidiary and discoverer and pioneer of oral zinc therapy for AMD, said: The results of this study confirm and extend the findings of other researchers of a significant copper handling defect that is evident in the serum of AD patients. More than just a biomarker, the availability of a quantitative serum copper status panel to be offered to physicians through Adeona’s CLIA-certified HartLab clinical laboratory subsidiary, opens up the possibility for a new paradigm in the treatment planning and monitoring of AD patients.
This first time finding carries particular excitement since, as with the finding of zinc deficiency in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), it strongly supports the use of zinc therapy in AD, he added.