Covid: Reducing Copper, A Zinc Antagonist
People with severe illnesses prioritize their zinc to the immune system, so that it is no longer available to be a copper antagonist. Higher levels of copper can cause anemia[1] and damage the body by increasing oxidative stress from damaging serotonin.[2]
People with low levels of zinc on the average suffer worse from Coronavirus[3], and seem to have benefited from increased zinc, presumably to be available to be prioritized to the immune system; the issue is more likely having the correct amount of zinc, rather than zinc being a "magic bullet" against coronavirus.
(Part of the problem could be that not all zinc deficiencies show on blood test, some require intracellular testing[], because the body would rather have the blood feeding to brain and heart and other organs correctly and put a deficiency in a system that is less used, such as the sense of smell or reproductive organs. These are areas, where if the body had enough zinc, it could steal it to keep the immune system supply of zinc steady, because there is no formal zinc storage in the body. This is why people who are able to steal zinc from their sense of smell to prioritize it to the immune system are suffering less on the average from coronavirus than those who do not lose their sense of smell. With sufficient zinc in the sense of smell available, it is being used as a zinc bank or an informal zinc storage.)
(As for why we have zinc deficiencies, one might look no further than the U.S. Pharmacist website, which describes nutritional deficiencies caused by medications as under-discussed, under-diagnosed, and undertreated. While the common explanation given is poor diet and poor absorption, the poor absorption is partly due to folic acid in so many foods and nutritional supplements which seems to block but at least causes excretion of zinc in fecal matter at significantly higher levels than away from folic acid, and as folic acid and zinc acting as cofactors in the body in such systems as the sense of smell. With the wrong diagnosis, the wrong cure could be ineffective. Nutritional supplements appropriate and inappropriate timing for each medication could give patients the benefit of the medications they are taking, without reducing the income required for the pharmaceutical companies to continue research, in part because the research is greatly done and the nutritional supplements are not very expensive. Matching them to the patients need, when a patient is on multiple medications, would be the difficult part.)
The products of non-enzymatic (copper, in this case) oxidation of serotonin are considered to be neurotoxic.[2] Both of these issues could be improved if there was less copper for the body to have to deal with during the infection.
Would there be a benefit in using trientine or other copper chelators to allow the body to prioritize more zinc to the immune system, while protecting the body from oxidative stress from high copper levels for Coronavirus?
Likewise, reducing copper in the diets of people in the hospital who have Coronavirus would be equally beneficial, and until a protocol for copper chelator is established, also safer. An example of such a diet is the Low Copper Diet for Wilson’s Disease.[4]
Another is the Alzheimer's diet.[5]
-----
1 G. E. Cartwright,... I. M. Merrill, M. M. Wintrobe. THE ANEMIA OF INFECTION. I.
HYPOFERREMIA, HYPERCUPREMIA, AND
ALTERATIONS IN PORPHYRIN METABOLISM IN PATIENTS. J Clin Invest. 1946;25(1):65-80. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI101690.
(PDF)
2 Jones CE, Underwood CK, Coulson EJ, Taylor PJ. Copper induced oxidation of serotonin: analysis of products and toxicity. J Neurochem. 2007 Aug;102(4):1035-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.04602.x. PMID: 17663749.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17663749/
3 Marina Vogel, Marc Tallo-Parra, Victor Herrera-Fernandez, Gemma Perez-Vilaro, Miguel Chillon, Xavier Nogues, Silvia Gomez-Zorrilla, Inmaculada Lopez-Montesinos, Judit Villar, Maria Luisa Sorli-Redo, Juan Pablo Horcajada, Natalia Garcia-Giralt, Julio Pascual, Juana Diez, Ruben Vicente, Robert Guerri-Fernandez; Low zinc levels at clinical admission associates with poor outcomes in COVID-19. medRxiv 2020.10.07.20208645; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.07.20208645, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.07.20208645v1
4 http://m.arizonadigestivehealth.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arizonadigestivehealth.com%2Flow-copper-diet-for-wilsons-disease%2F&utm_referrer=#2823
5 Rosanna Squitti, Mariacristina Siotto, Renato Polimanti,
Low-copper diet as a preventive strategy for Alzheimer's disease,
Neurobiology of Aging,
Volume 35, Supplement 2,
2014,
Pages S40-S50,
ISSN 0197-4580,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.02.031.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458014003595)
6
7 https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/druginduced-nutrient-depletions-what-pharmacists-need-to-know
---
©Deborah Barges Sept 2020 open access
People with low levels of zinc on the average suffer worse from Coronavirus[3], and seem to have benefited from increased zinc, presumably to be available to be prioritized to the immune system; the issue is more likely having the correct amount of zinc, rather than zinc being a "magic bullet" against coronavirus.
(Part of the problem could be that not all zinc deficiencies show on blood test, some require intracellular testing[], because the body would rather have the blood feeding to brain and heart and other organs correctly and put a deficiency in a system that is less used, such as the sense of smell or reproductive organs. These are areas, where if the body had enough zinc, it could steal it to keep the immune system supply of zinc steady, because there is no formal zinc storage in the body. This is why people who are able to steal zinc from their sense of smell to prioritize it to the immune system are suffering less on the average from coronavirus than those who do not lose their sense of smell. With sufficient zinc in the sense of smell available, it is being used as a zinc bank or an informal zinc storage.)
(As for why we have zinc deficiencies, one might look no further than the U.S. Pharmacist website, which describes nutritional deficiencies caused by medications as under-discussed, under-diagnosed, and undertreated. While the common explanation given is poor diet and poor absorption, the poor absorption is partly due to folic acid in so many foods and nutritional supplements which seems to block but at least causes excretion of zinc in fecal matter at significantly higher levels than away from folic acid, and as folic acid and zinc acting as cofactors in the body in such systems as the sense of smell. With the wrong diagnosis, the wrong cure could be ineffective. Nutritional supplements appropriate and inappropriate timing for each medication could give patients the benefit of the medications they are taking, without reducing the income required for the pharmaceutical companies to continue research, in part because the research is greatly done and the nutritional supplements are not very expensive. Matching them to the patients need, when a patient is on multiple medications, would be the difficult part.)
The products of non-enzymatic (copper, in this case) oxidation of serotonin are considered to be neurotoxic.[2] Both of these issues could be improved if there was less copper for the body to have to deal with during the infection.
Would there be a benefit in using trientine or other copper chelators to allow the body to prioritize more zinc to the immune system, while protecting the body from oxidative stress from high copper levels for Coronavirus?
Likewise, reducing copper in the diets of people in the hospital who have Coronavirus would be equally beneficial, and until a protocol for copper chelator is established, also safer. An example of such a diet is the Low Copper Diet for Wilson’s Disease.[4]
Another is the Alzheimer's diet.[5]
-----
1 G. E. Cartwright,... I. M. Merrill, M. M. Wintrobe. THE ANEMIA OF INFECTION. I.
HYPOFERREMIA, HYPERCUPREMIA, AND
ALTERATIONS IN PORPHYRIN METABOLISM IN PATIENTS. J Clin Invest. 1946;25(1):65-80. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI101690.
(PDF)
2 Jones CE, Underwood CK, Coulson EJ, Taylor PJ. Copper induced oxidation of serotonin: analysis of products and toxicity. J Neurochem. 2007 Aug;102(4):1035-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.04602.x. PMID: 17663749.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17663749/
3 Marina Vogel, Marc Tallo-Parra, Victor Herrera-Fernandez, Gemma Perez-Vilaro, Miguel Chillon, Xavier Nogues, Silvia Gomez-Zorrilla, Inmaculada Lopez-Montesinos, Judit Villar, Maria Luisa Sorli-Redo, Juan Pablo Horcajada, Natalia Garcia-Giralt, Julio Pascual, Juana Diez, Ruben Vicente, Robert Guerri-Fernandez; Low zinc levels at clinical admission associates with poor outcomes in COVID-19. medRxiv 2020.10.07.20208645; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.07.20208645, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.07.20208645v1
4 http://m.arizonadigestivehealth.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arizonadigestivehealth.com%2Flow-copper-diet-for-wilsons-disease%2F&utm_referrer=#2823
5 Rosanna Squitti, Mariacristina Siotto, Renato Polimanti,
Low-copper diet as a preventive strategy for Alzheimer's disease,
Neurobiology of Aging,
Volume 35, Supplement 2,
2014,
Pages S40-S50,
ISSN 0197-4580,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.02.031.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458014003595)
6
7 https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/druginduced-nutrient-depletions-what-pharmacists-need-to-know
---
©Deborah Barges Sept 2020 open access
