Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16644878›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical pathology2006

Adjusting copper concentrations for caeruloplasmin levels in routine clinical practice.

P J Twomey, A Viljoen, I M House, T M Reynolds, A S Wierzbicki

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical pathology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Trace elements: Clinical perspectives in the critically ill.Journal of the Intensive Care Society · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Is Prolonged Copper Restriction Needed in Pediatric Wilson's Disease?The Turkish journal of gastroenterology : the official journal of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology · 2023
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Copper:caeruloplasmin ratio.Journal of clinical pathology · 2007
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

P J TwomeyDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry, Ipswich Hospital, Ipswich, UK. patrick.twomey@ipswichhospital.nhs.uk
A Viljoen
I M House
T M Reynolds
A S Wierzbicki
Addenbrooke's Hospital · GBGuy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · GBIpswich Hospital · GBQueen's Hospital · GBSt Thomas' Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn investigation on copper metabolism usually includes the measurement of serum levels of copper and caeruloplasmin. Using these levels, some laboratories derive levels of non-caeruloplasmin-bound copper (NCC); however, a considerable number of patients may show negative values, which is not physiologically possible.

aimTo derive an equation for adjusted copper in a manner similar to that widely accepted for adjusted calcium.

methodsA linear regression equation for the relationship between caeruloplasmin and copper was used: [copper] (micromol/l) = 0.052x[caeruloplasmin] (mg/l). An equation for copper adjusted for caeruloplasmin was derived using this equation and the reference interval of 10-25 micromol/l for copper.

resultsThe derived equation was [adjusted copper] (micromol/l) = [total copper] (micromol/l)+0.052x[caeruloplasmin] (mg/l)+17.5 (micromol/l). The adjusted copper concentrations on the 2.5th and 97.5th centiles were 12.7 and 21.5 micromol/l, respectively, with the population having a gaussian distribution. The relationship between NCC and the adjusted copper concentrations is linear and independent of caeruloplasmin concentration.

conclusionCalculation of copper adjusted for caeruloplasmin uses the same variables as those for NCC. Accordingly, the problems that are caused by the lack of specificity of caeruloplasmin immunoassays are the same as those identified for NCC. This calculation, however, overcomes the negative values that are found in a considerable minority of patients with NCC, as well as age and sex differences in the caeruloplasmin reference interval. As the concept is already familiar to non-laboratory healthcare professionals in the form of calcium adjusted for albumin, this method is potentially less confusing than that for NCC.

Indexed as

CeruloplasminCopperHumansLinear ModelsReference ValuesCeruloplasminCopper

Identifiers

PMID16644878
PMCPMC1860450
OpenAlexW2156506606

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.