Distributional Characteristics of Copper and Zinc in Plasma and Cu/Zn Ratio in General Population of Three Cities in Henan Province

Objectives  To understand the distributional characteristics of copper and zinc in plasma of general population in three cities of Henan province.

Methods  A total of 1 866 (6~60 year-old) subjects were selected by a cluster random sampling method in 2009-2010 from 3 cities of Henan province:Puyang, Jiaozuo and Pingdingshan. Questionnaire, and blood samples were collected. Copper and zinc levels in plasma were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The distributional characteristics of copper and zinc in plasma in different age, gender and region groups in Henan Province were analyzed.

Results  The mean and median levels of plasma Cu were 933 and 923 μg/L, and the mean and median of P_2.5 and P_97.5 levels were 612 and 1 355 μg/L respectively. The levels of plasma copper in male was lower than that in female (P < 0.01). Plasma copper was different in different age groups (P < 0.01), it was the highest in (46~60) year-old group (median 1.003μg/L), and it was the lowest in (17~20) year-old group (median 810 μg/L); Plasma copper in Jiaozuo was the highest (median 933 μg/L) and that in Pingdingshan was the lowest (median 893 μg/L), it was significantly different in three cities (P < 0.01). The mean and median of plasma Zn were 878 and 859 μg/L, and the mean and median of P_2.5 and P_97.5 were 618 μg/L and 1.217 μg/L respectively. The level of plasma Zn was higher in male than that in female (P < 0.01); Plasma zinc level was significantly different in different age groups (P < 0.01), the highest was in (21~30) year-old group (median 934 μg/L), and the lowest was in 13-16 year-old group (median 805 μg/L); The median of plasma zinc in Puyang, Jiaozuo and Pingdingshan were 887, 884 and 801 μg/L, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). Plasma Cu/Zn ratio was significantly different in different gender, age and region groups (P < 0.01).

Conclusions  The level of plasma copper, zinc and Cu/Zn ratio in the general population of three cities in Henan province was different in different gender, age and region groups.